Iraqi Shia militia tells Trump to withdraw US troops or face attacks
Iraqi Shia militia tells Trump to withdraw US troops or face attacks
An Iraqi militia has threatened to attack US targets in Iraq.
2 min read
The militia warned of attacks on American forces in Iraq [Getty]
An Iraqi militia has threatened to attack US forces in the country unless President Donald Trump orders a withdrawal, according to local reports.
The group called Jund al-Imam al-Hujja released video that was revealed by Iraqi-Kurdish media channel Rudaw on Tuesday, when armed masked men demanded Trump to pull out American troops or face bloody consequences.
"We promise to attack every single US civil and military base within Iraq if Trump does not withdraw them," the men said.
"The US troops are invaders of Iraq, and we will not rest until we expel the US invaders."
A portrait of militia leader Muqtada Al-Sadr and the cleric-turned-politician's grandfather, Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr.
The militants pledged to carry out a similar strategy of Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, the rebel cleric who founded the pronominally Shia Dawa Party and was executed by the Saddam Hussein regime in 1980.
Muqtada al-Sadr heads the Saraya Brigades militia, which is part of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), or Hashd al-Shaabi, paramilitary coalition.
A number of PMF bases have been targeted in suspected Israeli air strikes over the past week, which have also been blamed on the US by some militia leaders.
Read also: The Iraq Report - Suspected Israeli airstrikes worry Iraqi politicians
Sadr said in a statement on Monday that he was confident Israel was not behind the strikes.
"It [Israel] knows [the Iraqi] response will be seismic to its security and influence. The Zionists know their end will come from Iraq," he said, which might hint at him believing that the US played a role.
Jund al-Imam al-Hujja also condemned the attacks on "our bases".
The US has denied any role in bombings of the militia bases.
Sadr led a militia that carried out attacks against American troops after US troops following their occupation of Iraq in 2003 and government forces.
US forces withdrew from the country but re-entered at the request of the Iraqi government following the 2014 rise of the Islamic State group.
US military bases in Iraq and the embassy in Baghdad have been targeted by militias in recent months by suspected Shia militias.
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