Iran-backed militia prepares ‘special forces’ for Fallujah offensiveThe Long War Journal - By Bill Roggio & Amir Toumaj | May 19, 2016
The leadership of Harakat al Nujaba, or Movement of the Noble, an Iranian-supported Shiite militia which operates in both Iraq and Syria, said it is clearing a road in eastern Anbar province in preparation for an upcoming offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State.
Akram Abbas al Kabi, the Secretary General of Harakat al Nujaba, and Hashem al Musawi, his spokesman both recently commented on the group’s role in operations in and around Fallujah...
Kabi’s spokesman, Hashim al Musawi, echoed his leader’s statements on Fallujah. “Entering Fallujah city and clearing it is one of our goals that is completely irreversible,” Musawi recently told Mehr News. “The political and media fanfare cannot stop the wheel of the resistance [Shia militias]. They do not have the capability to change the resistance’s plan for entering the terrorist city of Fallujah.”
“The Islamic resistance of Nujaba announces its full readiness to enter Fallujah,” Musawi continued, noting that Harakat al Nujaba was currently deployed to secure the Fallujah-Amirayat road, a notorious haven for jihadists. He also requested media organizations inside and outside of Iraq to carefully publicize field developments and support the militias in the war against the Islamic State.
Harakat al Nujaba and other Iranian-backed Shiite militias will likely engage in the fighting for Fallujah, despite US military commanders’ insistence that “extremist elements” have not participated in operations where the US military is providing support. The US routinely conducts airstrikes and supports Iraqi forces operating in the Fallujah corridor. These militias, which operate under the aegis of Iraqi-government supported Popular Mobilization Force and remain hostile to the US, have been involved in multiple offensives that have been supported by the US, including Baiji, Tikrit, Amerli, and Jurf al Shakr...
Kabi is a designated terrorist, Harakat al Nujaba is a pawn of IranAkram Abbas al Kabi, who previously served as a senior commander in both the Mahdi Army and Asaib Ahl al Haq. Kabi was listed by the US as a global terrorist in September 2008 for aiding the Iraqi insurgency. He was listed along with Abdul Reza Shahlai, a deputy commander in Iran’s Qods Force.
Kabi founded Harakat al Nujaba from elements of Hezbollah Brigades and Asaib al Haq, two dangerous Iranian-supported militias, to funnel fighters into Syria to back President Bashir al Assad against Syrian rebels and jihadists. He did this with the support of Iran and Hezbollah, both which have helped build Iraqi Shia militias to operate as states within the Iraqi state.
Kabi has close ties with Iran’s Qods Force. Last year, Kabi was photographed with Qods Force leader Qassem Soliemani during a battlefield tour in Aleppo, Syria. Photographs of the two commanders were published on Harakat Nujaba’s website.
Harakat al Nujaba also touts its relationship with Hezbollah. On its website, the group published a picture of Kabi holding hands with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. The two met in 2015 to discuss the security situation in Iraq. Musawi, Nujaba’s spokesman, described his group and Hezbollah as the “twins of the resistance.”...
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/05/iran-backed-militia-prepares-special-forces-for-fallujah-offensive.php
