Nujaba Resistance Group and Baghdad's Readiness to Liberate Fallujah

On the verge of Baghdad's operation to reclaim Fallujah, the Nujaba Resistance Group in Iraq, supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, has claimed that it will liberate the city from ISIS through an offensive operation. The Nujaba Resistance Group is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or Hashd al-Shaabi, which is predominantly composed of Iraqi Shiites, and the Iraqi government has accepted the existence and activities of this militia group. Fallujah, with a population of nearly 300,000, is located in Anbar province, 69 kilometers west of Baghdad, and was one of the first cities in Iraq to fall to ISIS after a five-day conflict on January 5, 2014. According to Defa Press, Akram al-Kaabi, the Secretary-General of the Nujaba Resistance Group, recently mentioned that preparations for the cleansing operation of Fallujah are underway, stating that Nujaba special forces and liberation brigades from Anbar, mostly composed of residents from the cities of al-Karma and Fallujah, moved towards the city on Tuesday, May 17, to participate in the major liberation operation. He referred to Fallujah as a center for terrorists in Iraq and stated that the operation to liberate Fallujah is aimed at avenging the blood of martyrs, asserting that ISIS terrorists will have no place in this city. Al-Kaabi further emphasized, "We will cleanse Fallujah of the filth of ISIS members and return the honorable people of this city, who have left their homes due to violence and injustice, to their houses." Earlier, on March 10, 2016, the Secretary-General of the mentioned group, in an interview with Kayhan newspaper, referred to the presence of Nujaba in northern Iraq to protect the communication route between Samarra and Fallujah (the al-Tharthar area between the two cities) and the cities of Um al-Talib and al-Rahaliyah in Anbar province, discussing the group's extensive operations. Concurrently, Hashim al-Moussawi, the official spokesperson for the Nujaba Resistance Group, mentioned the start of the liberation operation of the Ameriya-Fallujah road by Hashd al-Shaabi fighters, stating, "The terrorist groups that have turned Fallujah into Kandahar will face the consequences of their crimes on the battlefield... and entering Fallujah and cleansing it are unchangeable and irreversible goals of the Nujaba Resistance." He also urged media outlets inside and outside Iraq to accurately convey news and battlefield events to the public and support the resistance forces in the fight against ISIS. A video of the Iraqi army's operation to liberate Fallujah has been shared. These statements and other evidence indicate that the Nujaba Resistance Group and other Iranian-backed militia groups will be present in the liberation of Fallujah, contrary to the insistence of U.S. military officials that "extremist groups" did not participate in operations supported by the U.S. In March of last year, the then-commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), General Lloyd Austin, justified U.S. air support for Iraqi forces to liberate Tikrit by emphasizing that prior to the start of air operations, militias had retreated from the battlefield in Tikrit, stating to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, "I hope to never have coordination or cooperation with militias." However, effective cooperation and support from over 18,000 Shiite militiamen (Hashd al-Shaabi) with Iraqi military units ultimately led to the liberation of Tikrit on March 31, 2015. Currently, the U.S. regularly provides air support to Iraqi forces active in the Fallujah corridor as they prepare for the final assault. Previously, Iraqi militias operating under the banner of the Popular Mobilization Forces or Hashd al-Shaabi, which oppose the U.S., benefited from U.S. air support in several offensive operations, including those in Baiji, Tikrit, Amerli, and Jurf al-Sakhar. Akram al-Kaabi, previously a senior commander of Jaish al-Mahdi and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, was placed on the U.S. blacklist in 2008 for assisting Iraqi insurgents and is considered a terrorist by the U.S. He founded the Nujaba Resistance Group in collaboration with several commanders of Hezbollah Iraq brigades and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq. Nujaba maintains a close relationship with the Quds Force and Hezbollah Lebanon. The Hezbollah Iraq brigades (formerly known as Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas brigades) and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (or Khazali Network) are Shiite militia groups in Iraq formed with the support of Iran and Hezbollah Lebanon, with one of their tasks being the deployment of fighters to Syria to support Bashar al-Assad's regime. In this regard, Akram al-Kaabi stated in his interview with Kayhan that "the most significant military contribution of Nujaba in Syria relates to breaking the siege of Aleppo and the strategic Aleppo-Hama route... of course, Nujaba's role in operations related to the areas of Nubl and al-Zahra, as well as Fua and Kafriya [in Idlib province], cannot be overlooked... and [that] we have very strong and organized operations planned for the liberation of Fua and Kafriya, which I presented a detailed report on during my recent trip to Iran and meeting with the esteemed religious authorities." Al-Kaabi has a very close relationship with the Quds Force of the Islamic Republic, and photos released on the Nujaba Resistance Group's website last year show Qassem Soleimani and the group's Secretary-General together in Aleppo. The Nujaba Resistance Group also has a close friendship and cooperation with Hezbollah Lebanon, and al-Kaabi has met with Hassan Nasrallah multiple times, including last year. In March 2016, following statements from the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League labeling Hezbollah Lebanon as a terrorist organization, the Nujaba Resistance Group stated, "This group and Hezbollah Lebanon are two resistant twins whose separation is impossible." Hashim al-Moussawi, the official spokesperson for the Nujaba Resistance Group, criticized the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League for labeling Hezbollah Lebanon as terrorists, emphasizing that members of Hezbollah have actively fought in Iraq and some have lost their lives, and that "as long as we are alive, we are responsible for the blood of Hezbollah members shed in Iraq." The spokesperson did not specify when Hezbollah was active in Iraq, but it is likely that this occurred during the presence of American forces in Iraq and following the emergence of ISIS in the country. Al-Moussawi further stated, "Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, is a permanent fear in the hearts of the oil princes [of the Gulf Cooperation countries] and the Zionists." In the mentioned statement, accusing the Gulf Cooperation Council countries of "cowardice" and stating that these countries are tools of the U.S., he said that the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) should teach these countries a lesson in "courage and self-sacrifice." Baghdad's readiness to reclaim Fallujah: Iraq is now on the verge of launching a large-scale operation named "Battle of the Defeat of Terrorism" to liberate Fallujah, mobilizing parts of its 1st, 6th, and 7th divisions for this purpose. On June 2, the Iraqi army requested the people of Fallujah to temporarily leave the city using "safe corridors," although according to Hashd al-Shaabi spokesperson, Karim al-Nouri, the start time of the operation has not yet been announced. According to Reuters, Iraqi army units besieging Fallujah and cutting off ISIS's supply routes are receiving effective support from Hashd al-Shaabi, and the air force of the coalition led by the U.S. will ostensibly provide air cover for the Iraqi ground units, but in practice, despite the U.S.'s reluctance, the militia forces and groups forming Hashd al-Shaabi, such as the Nujaba Resistance and other groups that are on the U.S. blacklist and are supported, equipped, and led by the Islamic Republic, will benefit. In the past two weeks, over two hundred people have been killed and injured in bombings in Baghdad, and the Iraqi government attributes these actions to jihadists from Fallujah, the center of Sunni areas in Iraq, thus the government has resolved to liberate Fallujah from ISIS. According to some American media reports, U.S. officials, unlike their Iraqi counterparts, do not consider Fallujah a source of attacks against Baghdad, leading to disagreements over prioritizing the liberation of Mosul. From the perspective of U.S. military officials, liberating Mosul is a priority over Fallujah, although this city is facing severe famine, and the remaining people in the city are reportedly eating grass to survive, according to human rights organizations. Nevertheless, the liberation of Fallujah will face serious challenges. Ramadan is approaching, and with the increasing heat as summer nears, prolonged conflicts with ISIS and the cleansing of the city will be very difficult. In 2003, U.S. forces faced serious resistance from the residents and jihadists shortly after entering this city, and within a year, they were forced to conduct two major operations, with intense conflicts continuing until 2007 after tensions between American soldiers and the city's residents decreased. Most Sunni residents of Fallujah are suspected of being affiliated with Shiite militias supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which form a significant part of Iraq's fighting forces. According to some unconfirmed reports, the Baghdad government has decided to keep Shiite militias away from reclaiming central parts of Fallujah.