Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah supports state-led arms process but keeps weapons
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, welcomed efforts on Saturday to centralize arms under government oversight while maintaining that it would continue its “jihadist duty,” amid widening divisions among Iraq’s armed movements over the future of non-state weapons.
A senior security official in the group, Abu Mujahid Al-Assaf, stated that Kataib Hezbollah supports efforts by those outside the “Islamic Resistance” to strengthen security, stability, civil peace, and protect Iraq’s resources, arguing that armed resistance remains a “collective religious obligation” the group will continue to uphold.
Al-Assaf also expressed readiness to coordinate with government authorities and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF),a predominantly Shiite umbrella force incorporated into the Iraqi state in 2016, in any future regulatory process. The group, he clarified, could assist in cataloging, transferring, and securing military equipment, as well as managing specialized systems that official agencies may lack the expertise to operate, including drones, loitering munitions, cruise missiles, and anti-armor weapons, noting that Kataib Hezbollah would be willing to purchase such systems if necessary.
Read more: Is Iraq closer to restricting weapons to the state?
Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM) leader Muqtada Al-Sadr announced on Wednesday the disengagement of the movement’s military wing, Saraya Al-Salam, and declared that its members would join official institutions under the authority of Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Al-Zaidi welcomed the move and encouraged others to follow the same path through legal channels, reaffirming that security responsibilities should remain exclusively in the hands of the state.
Reactions among Iran-aligned Iraqi armed groups, however, have varied. Asaib Ahl Al-Haq endorsed the initiative following Al-Sadr’s announcement, while Kataib Sayyid Al-Shuhada rejected disarmament, arguing that the conditions that justify the existence of the “resistance’s weapons” remain in place.
Read more: Iraq’s armed factions and disarmament debate: Unity masks divisions
