Kata’ib Hezbollah condemns ‘uncontrolled, random attack’

Qais al-Khazali, influential Shia cleric and leader of Kata’ib Hezbollah resistance group, denied any responsibility on the side of the Iraqi resistance for the attack on the embassy in Baghdad.

Khazali said in a tweet, “The decision of Iraqi Resistance Coordination Commission is not to target the US embassy in the first place.”

“It is our right to liberate our country and avenge our martyrs, but we specify the time to respond and it is not far away,” he added.

Kata’ib Hezbollah also said in a statement the rockets attack on the US embassy in Baghdad is an “uncontrolled” act, calling on the government to take the necessary steps to arrest the perpetrators.

“We condemn the indiscriminate attack against the US embassy, ​​as it poses a threat to civilian lives,” the group said, calling on “the United States to suspend the military activities in the area for the residents’ safety.”

The US Embassy has been targeted several times this year, amid heightened anti-American sentiments in the Arab country in the aftermath of the US assassination of Iran’s anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in Baghdad on January 3.

The US has drawn down staff members at the embassy this month before the first anniversary of the assassination. US officials said the decision stemmed from concerns about a possible retaliatory strike.

In September, Washington warned Iraq that it would close its embassy in Baghdad if the government failed to take decisive action to end rocket and other attacks on American and allied interests in the country.

When the US announced the intention to withdraw troops from the country in November, a group of influential resistance groups announced a ceasefire to allow the process to take place safely.

-Qais al-Khazali