Iraqi factions hail US exit, some threatens attacks
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Some of Iraq’s armed factions on Wednesday hailed the end of the US-led Global Coalition's military mission in Iraq, crediting armed resistance for the withdrawal, while other groups rejected any handover of their weapons and threatened to attack foreign forces on the ground or in the air.
The coalition, formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group (ISIS), ended its mission on September 30 under an agreement announced by Baghdad and Washington in September 2024. Security ties between Iraq and the United States are moving to a bilateral relationship, with intelligence sharing, training and arms cooperation expected to continue.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq
Asaib Ahl al-Haq described the completion of the US forces' withdrawal as a historic milestone. The withdrawal was the result of a long political process, but "behind it lie Iraqi sacrifices and resistance that pushed to end the foreign military presence, which played the most prominent role in ending this occupation," the group said in a statement.
The group urged the government to continue working to remove all foreign forces from Iraq, singling out Turkish troops, which “occupy several areas in the north without legal justification.” It also called for modern air defense systems, which “Iraq's armed forces lack,” to protect the country's airspace from violations.
Iraq's sovereignty will not be complete, the group said, until its oil revenue is freed from “ US control through the Federal Reserve.”*
Led by Qais al-Khazali, Asaib Ahl al-Haq is one of Iraq's most powerful armed factions. Its political wing, the Sadiqoon bloc, won 27 seats in parliament in the November 2025 election and belongs to the Coordination Framework, the alliance of Shiite parties that dominates parliament.The group has backed placing faction weapons under government authority, following Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM) leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s decision to put Saraya al-Salam under state control.
Ashab al-Kahf
Ashab al-Kahf rejected any handover of its weapons, dismissing the idea as "illusions" held by the weak and "slaves of the dollar," and threatened attacks on foreign forces.
"Starting tonight, any foreign presence, whether on the ground or in the air, will face a military response from us," the group said in a statement, describing this as a legitimate right under international law to confront occupation.
It said efforts by US Envoy Tom Barrack to pull Iraq out of the Axis of Resistance, the Iran-led network of allied armed groups across the region, would fail. The group vowed to keep acting in line with the axis, and warned that any country taking part in an attack on Iran should evacuate its military and economic interests. “Some of those countries should expect a response at any time, in revenge for PMF fighters killed.”
The group said it would soon unveil a new weapon, and it answers to no political party, only to the Shiite religious authority, and that anyone who wants it to disarm should produce a written ruling from that authority requiring it.
*Iraq's oil export revenues are deposited in an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, managed by the Central Bank of Iraq on behalf of the Finance Ministry, under an arrangement dating to 2003.
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