by Timour Azhari at Reuters
Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the suspension of all its military operations against U.S. troops in the region, in a decision aimed at preventing “embarrassment” of the Iraqi government, the group said.
“As we announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces – in order to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi government – we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways,” Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement released by the group on Telegram.
Three U.S. troops were killed in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border on Sunday that the Pentagon said bore the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah, opens new tab, though a final assessment had not yet been made.
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the group’s statement, adding: “Actions speak louder than words.”
The U.S. has vowed to respond to the attack.
Iran-aligned groups have been waging attacks against Israeli and U.S. targets from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, since their Palestinian ally Hamas and Israel went to war on Oct. 7.
Kataib Hezbollah is the most powerful faction in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of hardline Shi’ite armed factions that have claimed more than 150 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war began.
The U.S. has responded with deadly strikes in Syria and Iraq in a cycle of escalating violence that…
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