Iran-backed faction praises Houthi airport strike, dismisses Baghdad’s condemnation

BAGHDAD — Kataib Hezbollah on Monday praised Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including the strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport that killed 12 people, and dismissed Iraqi condemnations of the attack as “discordant voices” that did not speak for Iraqis.

The Iran-backed armed group described the Houthi operations as a response to what it called an unjust blockade imposed on Yemen by Saudi Arabia with U.S. and Israeli backing. It called on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to accept defeat and lift the blockade, urged the Houthis to keep up their attacks until their demands were met, and said the Iraqi people and the “Islamic resistance” stood with Yemen. Criticism of the attacks represented only those who issued it, the group said, claiming Iraqis of all communities supported the Yemeni cause. The statement made no mention of the casualties.

The Iraqi government condemned the attack on Sunday. Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said Baghdad rejected the strike and any attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and called for an immediate halt to military operations, dialogue and freedom of navigation and aviation across the region. The Kurdistan Region Presidency also condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

Saturday’s attack killed four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one person each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Sudan and wounded 309, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said. It was the third attack on the airport in a week and the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade, and airport operations were suspended.

Kataib Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, is among the factions that have refused to hand their weapons to the state since the U.S.-led coalition’s mission ended on Sept. 30, when it threatened to shoot down “hostile” aircraft and to bring down Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government. Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline was struck on Sept. 11 by drones that Iraqi authorities said had been launched from Maysan.