{"id":57853,"date":"2021-07-06T10:26:29","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T10:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/06\/iraqi-militia-commander-vows-to-avenge-deaths-in-us-strike-drone-shot-down-near-embassy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:57:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:57:49","slug":"iraqi-militia-commander-vows-to-avenge-deaths-in-us-strike-drone-shot-down-near-embassy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/07\/06\/iraqi-militia-commander-vows-to-avenge-deaths-in-us-strike-drone-shot-down-near-embassy\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraqi militia commander vows to avenge deaths in US strike; drone shot down near embassy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BAGHDAD (AP) \u2014 The leader of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia has vowed to retaliate against America for the deaths of four of his men in a U.S. airstrike along the Iraq-Syria border last month<\/a>, saying it will be a military operation everyone will talk about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abu Alaa al-Walae, commander of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad that the electoral victory of Iran\u2019s hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as president will strengthen Iran-backed militant groups throughout the Middle East for the next four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also Monday, a drone was shot down near the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad after midnight. There were no casualties. Two U.S. military officials said the drone was launched by Iranian proxies, adding that it was weaponized with explosives and was loitering over the U.S.-led coalition base in Baghdad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The officials said it was too early to identify the type of the drone. The U.S. Embassy said defense systems at the compound \u201cengaged and eliminated an airborne threat.\u201d The statement added that \u201cwe are working with our Iraqi partners to investigate\u201d the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Walae, who rarely gives interviews to foreign media organizations, spoke to the AP on Monday in an office in a Baghdad neighborhood along the Tigris River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 27, U.S. Air Force planes carried out airstrikes near the Iraq-Syria border against what the Pentagon said were facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups to support drone strikes inside Iraq<\/a>. Four militiamen were killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi state-sanctioned umbrella of mostly Shiite militias \u2014 including those targeted by the U.S. strikes \u2014 said their men were on missions to prevent infiltration by the Islamic State group and denied the presence of weapons warehouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. troops in eastern Syria came under rocket fire the day after the airstrikes, with no reported casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. has blamed Iran-backed militias for attacks \u2014 most of them rocket strikes<\/a> \u2014 that have targeted the American presence in Baghdad and military bases across Iraq. More recently, the attacks have become more sophisticated, with militants using drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. military officials have grown increasingly alarmed over drone strikes targeting U.S. military bases in Iraq, more common since a U.S. drone killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani near the Baghdad airport last year. Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack. The strike drew the ire of mostly Shiite Iraqi lawmakers and prompted parliament to pass a nonbinding resolution to pressure the Iraqi government to oust foreign troops from the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-April, an explosives-laden drone targeted the military section of the international airport in Irbil, in Iraq\u2019s northern Kurdish-run region, causing no casualties or damages. The base also hosts American troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. officials said Iran-backed militias have conducted at least five drone attacks since April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bearded al-Walae, wearing a black shirt and trousers and an olive-green baseball cap, hinted that his militiamen might use drones in future attacks. He did not go into details. When asked if they used drones in the past against American troops in Iraq, he gave no straight answer and moved to other subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want an operation that befits those martyrs,\u201d he said referring to the four fighters killed in late June. \u201cEven if it comes late, time is not important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want it to be an operation in which everyone says they have taken revenge on the Americans,\u201d al-Walae said. \u201cIt will be a qualitative operation (that could come) from the air, the sea, along Iraq\u2019s border, in the region or anywhere. It\u2019s an open war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Walae spoke in an office decorated with a poster of Soleimani. On a table next to him, a framed photo shows al-Walae standing next to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Walae praised Iran\u2019s new president, Raisi, who is scheduled to take office next month, saying Iran-backed militant groups \u201cwill have their best times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days after he was elected last month, Raisi said in his first remarks after the vote that he rejects the possibility of meeting with President Joe Biden or negotiating Tehran\u2019s ballistic missile program and support of regional militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Walae, who was once held prisoner by U.S. troops in Iraq, boasted that his men were among the first to go to neighboring Syria to fight alongside President Bashar Assad\u2019s forces in 2012, a year after the civil war there broke out. He said their first mission was to protect a Shiite holy shrine south of the capital, Damascus. They later fought in different parts of Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran-backed fighters from throughout the region have joined Syria\u2019s conflict, helping tip the balance of power in Assad\u2019s favor. Thousands of Iran-backed fighters remain in Syria, many of them deployed close to the Iraqi border in the towns of Boukamal and Mayadeen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Walae also said he doesn\u2019t expect Iraq\u2019s parliamentary elections to take place on time in October, saying they might be postponed until April next year. He attributed the delay to the deep crisis the country is experiencing, including severe electricity cuts during the scorching summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press writer James La Porta contributed to this report from Washington.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kataib Hezbollah attack the US Embassy compound in Baghdad with UAVs.
Footage shows CRAM system in action. #Iraq<\/a> #Iran<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/zVt7du7RcW<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/IASIWp5azU<\/a><\/p>— Baxtiyar Goran \u2600\ufe0f (@BaxtiyarGoran) July 5, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>