In a bizarre turn of events, one of the most notorious Iranian-backed militias in Iraq has come up with a bizarre offer to “buy drones and missiles” from other militias that “have decided to lay down their arms.”
The proposal comes from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia that is also a key part of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
The PMF is an umbrella group of militias that are backed by Iran. It is also a government paramilitary force, similar to a national guard.
As such, Kataib Hezbollah is both being paid by the government while also operating outside its control.
Kataib Hezbollah is one of the most dangerous of the Iranian-backed militias. Like others, its leaders have been declared Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and it is designated by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Other militias include Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and Kata’ib al-Imam Ali.
The US killed Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike in January 2020. Muhandis was long wanted as a terrorist for attacks in Kuwait in the early 1980s. He was killed in 2020 alongside Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.
More recently, in mid-May, the US Justice Department said Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi has been brought to the US and charged with numerous crimes, including involvement in attacks in the US and Europe. Saadi is said to be linked to Kataib Hezbollah and the IRGC.
Kataib Hezbollah also kidnapped researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov in March 2023. She was released in September 2025.
Kataib Hezbollah is also accused of the kidnapping of US journalist Shelly Kittelson in Iraq. It also attacked and killed three Americans with a drone in Jordan last year.
The US Rewards for Justice program recently said it was “offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on Ahmad al-Hamidawi, the leader of the terrorist group Kataib [Hezbollah], a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).”
Kataib Hezbollah welcomes disarmament of non-resistance aligned militias
ONE WOULD think that Kataib Hezbollah wouldn’t be able to acquire weapons openly in Iraq, considering the spotlight it is under. But it is saying that it is welcoming a move by militias to disarm.
Which militias? Those “not involved in the Islamic resistance.” This would seem to imply it wants to buy guns from Muqtada al-Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam group.
Kataib Hezbollah says it will take the guns and help with the “duty” of jihad.
Kataib Hezbollah security chief Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said: “We welcome every step taken by our brothers (not involved in the Islamic Resistance) that aims to confine weapons to the hands of the state, enhance security, stability and civil peace, preserve the capabilities of the dear Iraqi people and remind us that jihad work today is a collective duty, and we will perform it on behalf of the brothers who decided to leave it, and if we need them, they are close and will not fall short.”
“We are ready to cooperate and take a constructive role in providing some facilities and guidance between those entities and the Popular Mobilization Forces leadership concerned with this file, including: supervising the inventory of weapons and their transfer and storage in a safe manner, receiving some special weapons for which there are no specialists in the state agencies, such as drones, suicide aircraft, cruise missiles, anti-armor missiles, and others,” he said. “We are also ready to pay for them and contribute to supporting the families of the martyrs and wounded of those entities, as well as the mujahideen who will be dispensed with.”
“The innocence of anyone who has wronged or is wronging any group or faction that has decided previously, currently, or will decide in the future to abandon jihadist work and turn to other work… this is their affair and their decision, and we even commend them for surrendering their weapons to the state, since they did not engage in the work of the Islamic resistance as mentioned previously,” Assaf said.
The statement makes it clear that Kataib Hezbollah isn’t supporting a handover of weapons as it wants the wings clipped of the “non-jihadist” groups, and it wants their guns.
Group ‘ready to receive’ weapons
It is specifically saying it is ready to “receive certain specialized weapons for which the state apparatus lacks specialists, such as drones, loitering munitions [suicide drones], cruise missiles, anti-armor weapons, and others.”
This should concern the region. Kataib Hezbollah is the worst of the worst in terms of the Iranian-backed militias. It is one of the most well trained and the oldest alongside the Badr militia, which is the only one not sanctioned by the US.
Kataib Hezbollah is heavily sanctioned, but it is making a play to grow even larger. It already has brigades within the PMF, which might make it more powerful.
