Iraq's Islamic Resistance targets Haifa with kamikaze drone

Shafaq News/ Iraq's Islamic Resistance launched a kamikaze drone toward Haifa on Tuesday night, an official press release said. Israeli media, however, claimed that "no unusual incident" of the sort was reported.

The group, a loose alliance of Iran-backed fighters opposed to the US support for Israel in its war on Gaza, said they targeted a power station near Haifa's airport.

In recent months, the group have launched about 170 attacks on US bases. But the attack on Tower 22 in Jordan on January 28 was the first to result in the deaths of US military personnel since October 18. The Pentagon said that 143 Americans have been injured in the attack.

The situation has led to what analysts described as a tit-for-tat exchange of fire between the US and Iran-backed groups in the region.

Over the years since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, a battle has played out in the country between Iran and the US for government influence. Among those working in alignment with Iran are a number of members of the PMF, a coalition of paramilitary groups that emerged in 2014 to fight ISIL (ISIS).

In 2017, the PMF's legitimacy was codified into law against the wishes of the Iraqi Ministries of Interior and Defence, and they were brought under the oversight of Iraq's national security adviser.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq is a vanguard group of armed actors from within the PMF that operates in Iraq and Syria but does not necessarily fall under the PMF's chain of command. Despite being closely aligned with Iran, it at times act in its own interests and with its own agency.