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It’s High Time for Baghdad to Make Some Hard Decisions

42 0
03.05.2026

Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), an Iraqi militia that receives support from Tehran, has been officially designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. They are offering a reward of up to $10 million for information regarding its leader, Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, who is also known as Abu Ala al-Wala’i. KSS is accused of targeting US personnel in Iraq and Syria. This U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, formed from Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah, directly collaborates with Iran’s IRGC. The fact that KSS is a part of the Iraqi state security forces and is responsible for the state-funded 14th Brigade of the Population Mobilization Forces (PMF) is farcical. In response to the escalating regional conflict, the United States has recently conducted a number of direct military attacks against the PMF, a state-sanctioned, Iran-aligned paramilitary umbrella organization. The PMF, a component of the Iraqi state security apparatus, is responsible for attacks on US interests and allied forces, notably Kurdish Peshmerga forces. On April 17, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed comprehensive financial sanctions on seven Iraqi PMF commanders. These commanders were named by the Treasury as prominent figures within several of Iraq’s most violent Iran-aligned organizations, in addition to Kata’ib Hizballah, Harakat al-Nujaba, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq.

Several leaders in the Iraqi Coordination Framework, Iraq’s ruling Shiite bloc, have........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)