At least one pro-Iran Hashd group has sent fighters to Syria to support the Assad government against the ongoing insurgent offensive in Aleppo. This is despite official government denials.
Reuters quoted two Syrian military sources that said pro-Iran groups had crossed from Iraq into Syria to support the government. Kataib Hezbollah was named in the report. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights believed that around 200 Iraqi fighters entered Syria.
This came after Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with President Assad to tell him that Tehran stood behind him. Iran extensively used its Iraqi allies to bolster Damascus when the Syrian civil war started and is likely doing the same now.
While no Hashd faction has admitted to going to Syria some have expressed their concern over events. Sayid al-Shuhada’s spokesman for instance said that the fighting in Syria directly impacted Iraq and that an attack upon Damascus was an attack upon the Axis of Resistance which it belongs to. As before these groups are also invoking religion to justify their actions. The spokesman claimed that the Syria insurgents wanted to march on Karbala. Qais Khazali the leader of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq added that defending the Sayida Zainab shrine in Syria was paramount. This was a major justification for Iraqi deployments to Syria in 2011. The shrine however is nowhere near the current fighting. Instead these factions are following Iran’s lead to back Assad.
Baghdad is turning a blind eye to these movements as it did before. The head of the Hashd Falah Fayad denied that any Hashd groups had entered Syria during a TV interview. He continued that the Hashd are under the direction of the commander and chief PM Sudani. The Interior Ministry made similar statements dismissing reports of Iraqis entering Syria as “Facebook talk.” The government is largely powerless to control these groups despite them being on the public payroll and being part of the Iraqi Security Forces. That’s because they follow their own individual leaders. Any attempt to block them would lead to fighting which the authorities want to avoid.
SOURCES
Al Aalem, “How will Iraq participate in the Syrian war?” 12/2/24
Asharq Al-Awsat, “Iraq Deploys Armored vehicles to Border with Syria,” 12/2/24
Al Mada, “Baghdad walks a fine line again: Factions want to protect holy shrines in Syria,” 12/2/24
Al Rafidain, “Sayid al-Shuhada Brigades Militias: Attacking Damascus is a threat to the Axis of Resistance,” 12/2/24
Reuters, “Pro-Iranian militias enter Syria from Iraq to aid beleaguered Syrian army,” 12/2/24
Shafaq News, “Iraqi Interior Ministry to Shafaq News: The movement of factions on the Syrian border is “Facebook talk,”” 12/2/24
Al Sumaria, “After the tensions in Aleppo and Idlib, the Popular Mobilization Forces deny entering Syria,” 12/2/24
No comments:
Post a Comment