Kataib Hezbollah vows to expand arsenal

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Kataib Hezbollah will not surrender its weapons and instead intends to expand its arsenal, the group's secretary-general, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, stated on Monday.

Al-Hamidawi said the group would continue as "jihad for the sake of God", vowing to make any aggressor "pay a double price."

He described the latest US-Saudi strike on Iraq as a serious precedent that could open a new phase of confrontation in the region.

“The strike reinforced the group's commitment to retaining and developing its weapons,” he affirmed, adding that it would work to tighten internal security and secrecy in proportion to the scale of the threats it faces.

He also stressed that “military and media efforts would continue to operate together against what he called enemies and their allies.”

Read more: Iraq under regional pressure as neighbors threaten to strike Iran-aligned factions

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella of mostly Shiite armed groups formally under Iraqi state authority, announced on July 29 that at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded in strikes by American and Saudi fighter jets that hit PMF facilities in several Iraqi provinces. 

Read more: PMF strikes raise fears of broader regional conflict for Iraq