Iraqi Shiite militia says current calm with US forces "temporary tactic"

BAGHDAD -- The leader of an Iraqi armed Shiite militia said Sunday that the current period of calm among Iraqi armed groups in their conflict with US forces is a "temporary tactic," stressing that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq did not abandon its support for the Palestinians.

Akram al-Kaabi, secretary general of the Iranian-backed al-Nujaba Movement, said in a statement that the current calm is only a tactic for repositioning and deployment, stressing, "It is only the calm before the storm."

He said that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq "is an essential part in the battle to confront the Zionist aggression (the Israeli military campaign) and its supporter America against the Gaza Strip."

Al-Kaabi also said that there is high-level coordination between different "open fronts" against the Americans and Israelis in the region, stressing that "any calm on one front and ignition on another is an intentional, purposeful and coordinated strategy."

"Although the Islamic resistance did not reject the government's negotiations to schedule the US withdrawal from Iraq, we affirm that the US occupier is a liar, a deceiver, and an arrogant one," the statement said.

Days after fighting broke out between the Gaza-ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel in the Gaza Strip on Oct 7, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched rocket, drone, and mortar attacks on military bases housing US forces in Iraq and Syria.

On Jan 27, Iraq and the United States began the first round of dialogue to discuss ending the US-led international coalition's mission in Iraq, but later three US soldiers were killed in an attack on a US base near Jordan's border with Syria. The United States said the attack was carried out by Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella term for pro-Iran Shiite Islamic armed groups in Iraq.

The death of the US soldiers prompted the US forces to retaliate by striking some headquarters of Iranian-backed armed groups affiliated with the Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces, killing and wounding dozens of them.

Later, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq suspended their attacks on US bases to pave the way for the Iraqi government to hold negotiations with the US-led coalition to end their presence in Iraq.