Shafaq News- Baghdad
Kataib Hezbollah raised its flags across several streets, bridges, and highways in Baghdad on Tuesday, Shafaq News correspondent reported.
The flags appeared on both the Karkh and Rusafa sides of the capital, including on a bridge east of the canal and on bridges in the Dora district.
Kataib Hezbollah is a prominent Iran-allied Shiite armed faction operating within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella of armed groups formally integrated into the Iraqi state security apparatus. Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, the group —operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) banner— has announced its involvement in the conflict in solidarity with Tehran, claiming responsibility for attacks on American sites in Baghdad, the Kurdistan Region, and Gulf states.
The flag-raising comes against a backdrop of mounting regional pressure on Baghdad over the conduct of armed factions operating from Iraqi territory. On March 25, six Arab countries called on Iraq to prevent such attacks, warning of escalation if no action is taken, following claims by the IRI of carrying out more than 170 operations across Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, Syria, Jordan, and Gulf states.
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