Nujaba demands Iraq expel US forces, arm skies to ‘protect the country’s sovereignty’

BAGHDAD — Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the Iraqi armed factions that has refused to place its weapons under state control, demanded Wednesday that the government expel U.S. forces from Iraq, cut all cooperation with Saudi Arabia and acquire air defense systems, and warned that the two countries would pay “a heavy price through their interests and security.”

The group set out its demands after U.S. and Saudi aircraft struck Popular Mobilization Forces sites, saying it was directing “our direct and confidential message to the Iraqi government and the official authorities.” It said the continued presence of American bases “has become a direct danger threatening the country’s security and stability,” and called for an end to dealings with what it called a Saudi regime that finances terrorism against Iraq.

It also told the government to “immediately abandon its silence and stop the denials and condemnations that embolden the aggressor and encourage further escalation,” to “secure advanced air defense systems immediately and effectively to protect the country’s sovereignty and airspace,” and to hold accountable “everyone responsible for leaving Iraq’s skies vulnerable to repeated attacks.”

Nujaba condemned what it called American-Saudi aggression, saying “the blood of our righteous martyrs will not go in vain” and describing the operation as the work of “the savage American occupation and the hired Saudi alliance.”

The PMF said the strikes hit its headquarters in Baghdad, Wasit, Nineveh, Basra, Kirkuk, Karbala and Diyala, killing at least 20 members and wounding 32 in a preliminary toll. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called an emergency meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security.

U.S. Central Command said it and Saudi forces struck weapons-storage and logistical sites linked to Iran-backed groups after more than 30 drone attacks it attributed to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Saudi Arabia said the targets were connected to attacks on its energy facilities, and its Defense Ministry said earlier this week that air defenses had intercepted drones targeting petroleum facilities in the Eastern Province and Riyadh which it said were launched from Iraqi territory by Iran-backed militias. It did not name a faction.

Nujaba is among the factions rejecting Zaidi’s plan to bring weapons under state control, alongside Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, which argue their weapons remain necessary while U.S. forces are in Iraq. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Saraya al-Salam and the Imam Ali Battalions have moved to comply. In May the U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on Akram al-Kabi, Nujaba’s founder and leader, having announced rewards of the same amount in April for Kataib Hezbollah leader Ahmad al-Hamidawi and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada secretary-general Abu Ala al-Walai.