Iraq's Kata'ib Hezbollah: Disarmament reports 'lies and fabrications'

A senior Iraqi anti-terror group has dismissed recent claims suggesting it is preparing to disarm in response to potential US military strikes as "lies and fabrications."

In a statement released to local Iraqi media on Monday, Kata'ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades) reiterated that only their authorized spokespersons, Mohammed Mohi and military spokesman Jaafar Al-Husseini, are credible sources for official statements regarding the group, declaring any other statements as false.

They called upon global media “to be accurate and credible in their publications and to obtain information from [Kataib Hezbollah’s] authentic sources,” warning of legal action against spreading misinformation.

This comes after a Reuters report from April 7 cited ten senior Iraqi figures, including six commanders from factions such as Kata'ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, and Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, as saying the group planned to disarm as a strategy to avoid conflict with the US.

According to the report, a commander from Kata'ib Hezbollah who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "Trump is ready to take the war with us to worse levels, We want to avoid a bad scenario." The assertion has been dismissed as false by the group.

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, also known as Hashd al-Sha'abi, which includes the Hezbollah Brigades along with several other groups, issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to maintain military readiness.

They emphasized their crucial role in protecting Iraq's borders and their significance within the country's military framework.

The PMU became an integral part of Iraq's security forces following their pivotal involvement in defeating the Daesh terrorist group and liberating northern and western Iraq between 2014 and 2017.

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In a related development, Alaa al-Haidari, an Iraqi lawmaker from the Sadqoon bloc—associated with the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq group—warned the government against ramifications of such disarming.

He warned that such diamagnetism would amount to "disarming the backbone of the state," cautioning that yielding to US pressure could lead to "humiliation, loss of dignity, and territorial setbacks."

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Earlier, 10 Republican members of the US House of Representatives had urged the government to designate various Iraqi resistance groups as terrorist organizations and to suspend security aid to Baghdad, due to recognizing these groups as integral components of Iraq's security forces.

The request was conveyed in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mark Waltz on January 28, later shared on social media by Joe Wilson, a House representative and one of the signatories. The lawmakers called for sanctions against several factions of the PMU.

Iraq's President Abdul Latif Rashid has reiterated that armed groups associated with the PMU are part of Iraq's security forces and that the government maintains full control over the situation, asserting that no issues have arisen for an extended period.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Iraqi resistance groups have increasingly targeted American and Israeli positions in the region, prompting US pressure on the Iraqi government to disarm the PMU.

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