Kataib Hezbollah threatens to bring down Zaidi’s government and shoot down “hostile” aircraft after Sept. 30

BAGHDAD — A Kataib Hezbollah security official threatened to work to bring down Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government “by all means” and said the group would monitor Iraqi airspace after the coalition leaves on Wednesday, warning and then trying to shoot down aircraft it considers hostile.

Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said in a statement on Sunday that the “Islamic resistance” would begin watching the skies after Sept. 30 “to ensure that it is not violated by hostile aviation,” issuing a warning first and working “to shoot it down” if a violation continued. He accused elements in the government of obstructing policies he said served Iraq and warned that a government that “does not work for the benefit of the people” would face efforts to remove it. If restrictions on Iranian aviation continued after Oct. 1, he said, there could be moves to close Iraq’s crossings with neighbouring countries he accused of joining a blockade of Iran.

He described Sept. 30 as a celebration of the expulsion of U.S. and NATO “occupation forces” by Iraqi armed groups and the start of full sovereignty.

Sept. 30 is also the day Zaidi’s plan for the armed factions begins, with a 90-day halt to attacks followed by six months to hand over weapons, ending on June 30, 2027. Kataib Hezbollah has refused to hand over weapons while foreign forces remain, and has not said it accepts the halt. Zaidi told the UN General Assembly last week that decisions on war and peace and control of weapons must belong to the state alone.

The Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Ministry said on Monday that the coalition’s departure would leave the Region without air defence. Coalition aircraft shot down 10 bomb-laden drones over Erbil on Sept. 2, and Iraq says systems from South Korea, Turkey and the United States are coming without giving a date. The government says the withdrawal is on schedule and that security ties with coalition members will continue bilaterally.