Harakat al-Nujaba chief vows ‘resistance’ will continue

BAGHDAD — Harakat al-Nujaba secretary-general Akram al-Kaabi said Tuesday that Iran-aligned factions would continue their operations regardless of pressure, declaring it “not possible to stop” what he called a “legitimate war of liberation.”

“The occupier is deluded if it believes that through its continued violations of Iraq’s sovereignty and repeated blatant aggression it will be able to deter, stop or undermine the legitimate war of liberation of the Iraqi Islamic resistance,” al-Kaabi said.

He invoked the post-2003 insurgency as a precedent, saying resistance factions “confronted the criminal occupation for eight years and emerged stronger with accumulated experience and capabilities” before U.S. forces withdrew “defeated and compelled under military strikes.” He framed current operations as a continuation of that campaign to restore what he called “Iraq’s usurped sovereignty.”

The remarks amount to a direct rejection of the Iraqi government’s repeated calls for armed factions to stand down. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has insisted that war and peace decisions rest solely with the state and ordered security forces to pursue those responsible for attacks on diplomatic missions and military sites.