{"id":497974,"date":"2026-03-01T18:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T18:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/497974\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T18:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T18:59:11","slug":"iraqi-shiite-militias-join-the-war-between-israel-the-us-and-iran-with-drone-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/497974\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraqi Shiite militias join the war between Israel, the US, and Iran with drone attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A statement from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq shared via the militia-aligned Sabereen News on X<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Iraqi militias claimed<\/a> 16 drone attacks against \u201cenemy bases in Iraq and the region\u201d following American and Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States and Israel launched<\/a> a campaign against the regime in Tehran on February 28, killing numerous members of the regime\u2019s leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Islamic Republic responded by launching hundreds of drones and missiles at US bases, Israel, and Gulf countries, and Tehran\u2019s proxies have responded with attacks and pledges of support. An unconfirmed party, likely the US or Israel, also reportedly conducted strikes against Iran-backed proxies in Iraq on February 28 and March 1.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), a coalition of Iran-backed Shiite militias that are US-designated<\/a> terror groups, released<\/a> a statement on February 28 claiming 16 attacks using dozens of drones on that day. However, they did not identify the specific targets. At least two bases housing Iraqi security forces\u2014the Basrah Operations Command and the Imam Ali base in Dhi Qar\u2014were struck<\/a> on February 28, either by Iraqi militias or the Islamic Republic itself.<\/p>\n

Local media also reported<\/a> numerous interceptions<\/a> of drones and missiles in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, particularly near the American consulate and military forces. Saraya Awliya al Dam, a front group<\/a> of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, claimed<\/a> an attack on US military personnel at Erbil International Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan \u201cwith a squadron of drones.\u201d The United States maintains a military presence in the Kurdistan Region\u2014in particular, at Erbil\u2019s airport\u2014where numerous interceptions were heard. Iraqi militia-aligned news outlets continue to announce<\/a> drone attacks by the militias.<\/p>\n

Iraq\u2019s Iran-backed Shiite militias view the Kurdistan Regional Government with suspicion due to its ties to the United States, and they have previously attacked<\/a> various targets in the region. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq also previously conducted<\/a> hundreds of attacks against Israel and US bases in the region during the war in Gaza following Hamas\u2019s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.<\/p>\n

Numerous Iraqi militias and militia officials have issued statements in support of Iran and memorializing<\/a> Khamenei. The Iran-backed terror groups Kataib Hezbollah, Kataib Sayyid al Shuhada, and Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba have announced<\/a> they are joining the fighting in response to attacks on Iran and violations of Iraq\u2019s sovereignty. Kataib Hezbollah threatened a prolonged conflict with the United States, saying<\/a>, \u201cWe must drag [the US] into a long war of attrition [\u2026] in which we leave no American presence in the region generally, especially in Iraq.\u201d US servicemembers withdrew<\/a> from most areas of Iraq in January 2026 but remain in Iraqi Kurdistan.<\/p>\n

Akram al Kaabi, the leader of Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, released<\/a> a statement condemning the American attack on Iran and promising that the group would join the fight, without issuing specific threats. \u201cOur mujahideen and heroes are not those who speak in gatherings saying, \u2018if only we had been with you\u2019 and then they cower on the battlefield,\u201d Kaabi stated.<\/p>\n

Abu Ala al Walae, the leader of Kataib Sayyid al Shuhada, justified<\/a> Iranian attacks on neighboring Arab countries, saying that the Islamic Republic was only targeting American sites and servicemembers. Walae claimed that US personnel had \u201cfled their bases scattered throughout the Gulf countries and sought refuge in hotels and civilian buildings\u201d to rationalize Tehran targeting cities and civilian infrastructure in the Gulf.<\/p>\n

Protestors have taken<\/a> to the streets in Baghdad\u2019s Green Zone, which houses the US embassy, over American strikes and the killing of Khamenei. Some of these protestors are carrying<\/a> the flags of Iran-backed terror groups<\/a> in Iraq.<\/p>\n

Unclaimed, possible US-Israeli strikes on Iraq<\/p>\n

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an official Iraqi security institution comprised of militias, many of which are backed by Tehran, announced that an unknown party conducted an airstrike on Iraq on February 28.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jurf al-Nasr area, north of Babil province, was subjected to several airstrikes at exactly 11:50 am this morning, resulting in the martyrdom of two individuals and the injury of three others with varying degrees of wounds,\u201d the PMF stated<\/a>. Sources told<\/a> Iraq\u2019s Shafaq News that the site that was targeted is connected to the Kataib Hezbollah militia. The attack has not been claimed, though American or Israeli forces are likely to have conducted it.<\/p>\n

Another Iran-backed militia in the PMF, Asaib Ahl al Haq, announced<\/a> the death of four of its members on March 1. The statement claimed that the attack was a joint US-Israeli airstrike.<\/p>\n

Bridget Toomey is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focusing on Iranian proxies, specifically Iraqi militias and the Houthis.<\/p>\n

Tags: Asaib Ahl al Haq<\/a>, Axis of Resistance<\/a>, Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba<\/a>, Iran<\/a>, Islamic Resistance in Iraq<\/a>, Israel-Iran<\/a>, Kataib Hezbollah<\/a>, Kataib Sayyid al Shuhada<\/a>, PMF<\/a>, US-Iran<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A statement from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq shared via the militia-aligned Sabereen News on X. Iraqi militias…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,227477,227478,227479,801,227480,220428,227481,227482,3,227483,21,19,22,20,25,205757,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-497974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-asaib-ahl-al-haq","10":"tag-axis-of-resistance","11":"tag-harakat-hezbollah-al-nujaba","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-islamic-resistance-in-iraq","14":"tag-israel-iran","15":"tag-kataib-hezbollah","16":"tag-kataib-sayyid-al-shuhada","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-pmf","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-us-iran","25":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}