Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades Hold Drill in Preparation for Possible War with US

By Staff, Agencies

The anti-terror Iraqi resistance group Kata’ib [Brigades] Hezbollah held a military drill, dubbed ‘Hunting the Crow’, to prepare itself for battling occupying US troops after suspicious American activities recently.

Jaafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for the group, said thousands of Iraqi fighters took part in the maneuver in order to prepare themselves for four scenarios, the first of which was tackling heli-borne operations by US troops.

The drill was held in the town of Jurf al-Nasr, some 60 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, with the aim of achieving combat readiness and preparing for any emergency situation, al-Husseini said.

Sophisticated weapons with live ammunition were used in the exercises, he added.

The exercise simulated a number of engagement patterns, including confronting airstrikes and land exposure, and fighting in a forest environment. It also tested the effectiveness of urban warfare, the spokesman noted.

Al-Husseini said the “successful” war games were a warning to the enemies of Iraq that resistance forces are fully prepared to counter possible US threats.

Kata’ib Hezbollah had earlier blown the lid off a plot by the US military to carry out massive aerial operations — backed by ground troops – against the bases of the anti-terror Popular Mobilization Units [PMU], known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi, which is currently helping the government in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement on Wednesday, Kata’ib Hezbollah reported “suspicious activities by the US and its mercenaries” in Iraq in preparation for an operation.

The US plans to conduct heli-borne operations backed up by ground troops and fighter jets against positions belonging to security agencies and positions of Iraq’s resistance groups, the statement added.

Anti-American sentiment has been running high in Iraq following the US assassination on January 3 of Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s PMU, and their companions.