US to designate Iraqi militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haqq as terrorist entity
The United States has announced it will designate
Iraqi militant group Asaib Ahl al-Haqq, also known as AAH, as a foreign terrorist entity in addition to
the group’s leaders Qais and Laith al-Khazali, according to a statement by the
US State Department.
“AAH and its leaders are violent proxies of the
Islamic Republic of Iran,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a
statement.
“Acting on behalf of their masters in Tehran, they
use violence and terror to further the Iranian regime’s efforts to undermine
Iraqi sovereignty,” he added.
AAH is extensively funded and trained by Iran’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, an entity that was part of
the IRGC designation as an FTO in April 2019.
Earlier in the day, Iran-backed Iraqi militia
commander Qais al-Khazali ordered his fighters to be on high alert for an
upcoming battle and said that US military presence in Iraq would end soon.
“All fighters should be on high alert for upcoming
battle and great victory. The price for the blood for the martyred commander
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is the complete end to American military presence in
Iraq,” local TV channel al-Ahd which is close to his Asaib Ahl al-Haqq militia
quoted him as saying.
