In another escalation of the Iran War’s impact upon Iraq the spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah Abu Ali Al-Askari was killed. This comes after his father Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi the secretary general of the group was either killed or injured on March 13. The U.S. and Israel has mostly hit units of the pro-Iran Resistance and their allies but has begun taking out leadership members now. Kataib Hezbollah is one of the most militant members of the Resistance and is also a political party with parliamentarians. If both father and son were taken out this would be a dramatic loss for the organization.
On March 16 there were other actions against the Resistance. The Khorasani Brigades’ 18th Hashd Brigade and Ansar Allah’s 19th Hashd Brigade were hit four times by airstrikes in Anbar’s Qaim district. The first reports were that six people were killed and four wounded but a security source told Shafaq News that 7 died and 13 were injured. Kataib Hezbollah’s base in Jurf al-Sakhr in Babil faced an airstrike that left two dead and one wounded. Three fighters from the Badr Brigade’s 21st Hashd Brigade were wounded by a jet when their fuel truck was hit in northern Ninewa. This is the first time the group has fallen victim to U.S. and Israel strikes.
Iran and its allies struck back sending two drones against the Majnoon oil field in Basra. An office belonging to the petroleum services company KBR was hit. Four rockets hit the Baghdad airport wounding five while three wave of drones were shot down over the facility as well. A drone hit two cars at the Al-Rasheed Hotel in the capital while a drone exploded at the Balad Air Base in Salahaddin. There are no international forces at that base so this was an attack upon the Iraqi Security Forces.
The government is making some effort to crackdown upon the Resistance. That led to a raid by the ISF upon Kataib Hezbollah in Jurf al-Sakhr. Something went wrong and two people were killed. There were no other details about what happened. Members of the Resistance have claimed Prime Minister Mohammed Sudani is taking orders from the Americans by raiding their members. This will only add fuel to that fire and complicate his hopes of staying in office.
More foreigners are leaving Iraq due to the war. Spain’s Defense Ministry announced it is withdrawing its 300 troops from the country after a French soldier was killed by a drone in Irbil. The Spanish help train the Iraqi Counter Terror Forces in Baghdad and Kurdistan.
British Petroleum is also pulling out its foreign workers from four oil fields in Kirkuk due to the violence. Foreign staff have already been pulled out of Basra fields the past week.
Finally the Oil Ministry announced that it would export oil to Turkey without using the Kurdish controlled one. This came after the Kurds demanded that they be able to run the new online customs system on their own. Baghdad rejected this demand saying it had nothing to do with oil. The Kurdish government has lost a huge amount of money under the new system. Baghdad wants it to remain under federal control. That means the Oil Ministry will use the federal pipeline to Turkey which was shut down and damaged during the war against the Islamic State. It has not been fully restored however but the ministry said it would be soon. Iraq plans to export 500,000 barrels a day of oil through it to Turkey eventually. Baghdad is desperate to sell oil again as it accounts for more than 90% of the state’s revenue. Even if this pipeline re-opens it would be a fraction of the 3.4 million barrels it was exporting before the war. The government will not be able to pay its bills if the conflict continues for much longer.
SOURCES
Agence France Presse, “Four airport staff injured as rockets hit Baghdad Airport,” 3/16/26
Asharq Al-Awsat, “Strike Kills at Least Four Iraqi Fighters Near Syria Border,” 3/16/26
Iraqi News, “Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Ali al-Askari killed,” 3/16/26
The National Context, “The Pipeline Card: Why the KRG’s Strongest Lever May Be Its Most Dangerous,” 3/16/26
Salem, Amr, “Spain withdraws special forces from Iraq amid regional unrest,” Iraqi News, 3/16/26
Shafaq News, “A “booby-trapped drone” targeted Balad Air Base in Salah al-Din,” 3/16/26
- “Fourth attack within an hour targeting the Popular Mobilization Forces in Anbar,” 3/16/26
- “A march targeting the Al-Rasheed Hotel in central Baghdad (Update),” 3/16/26
- “The Popular Mobilization Forces reveal details of the Al-Qaim strike and announce the toll,” 3/16/26
- “A third drone that attempted to target the Support Center at Baghdad International Airport was shot down,” 3/16/26
- “Two airstrikes target a Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters in Nineveh, resulting in 3 casualties,” 3/16/26
- “Two drones target Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq (video),” 3/16/26
Al-Smarraie, Jawad, “BP pulls foreign staff from Kirkuk oil fields amid security risks,” Iraqi News, 3/16/26
Al Sumaria, "A drone was shot down near Baghdad airport,” 3/16/26
- “Rockets target the vicinity of Baghdad International Airport,” 3/15/26
- “The toll of casualties from the bombing of Jurf al-Sakhr at dawn today,” 3/16/26
Xinhua, “Urgent: 6 Iraqi paramilitary members killed in Israeli airstrike,” 3/16/26
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