Shafaq News- Baghdad

The Iraqi armed faction Ashab al-Kahf warned on Wednesday it would retaliate against the United States and Saudi Arabia following joint airstrikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq.

Ashab al-Kahf is a clandestine, Iran-aligned Shia armed group that first emerged in 2019 and operates within the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of factions opposed to the US military presence in the country.

In its statement, the group pledged that any party involved in the strikes “would face a response that matches or exceeds the original act.”

Earlier today, other Iran-backed armed factions, including Saraya Awliya al-Dam, Harakat al-Nujaba, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and the Badr Organization, condemned in separate statements the assault, with some calling for the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, the severance of diplomatic and economic ties with Saudi Arabia, and the expulsion of the Saudi ambassador.

Read more: Iraq's September deadline undercuts armed factions' case for weapons