US troops ‘are a target for us,’ Iraq’s Muqtada al Sadr says

[Valin]

Long War Journal:

Bill Roggio

July 18, 2016

 

Radical Shia cleric Muqtada al Sadr said that US troops supporting the Iraqi military’s offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State should be targeted by his militias.

 

Sadr, who openly fought US troops several times during the US occupation, made the statement in response to a question from a follower on how they should respond to the US military’s deployment of additional troops to aid Iraqi forces in retaking Mosul.

 

“They are a target for us,” Sadr said on his website, according to Reuters.

 

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced last week that the US military would send 560 more troops to Iraq to capitalize on recent Iraqi military success in Qayarra south of Mosul.

 

(Snip)

 

In February 2015, he purportedly suspended the activities of the two militias, however the groups have been spotted fighting in Iraq since then. Sadr also frequently claimed to have halted the activities of the Mahdi Army during the US occupation, but these ceasefires rarely held.

 

While Sadr has denied receiving Iranian support, the US military and government consistently contended that his militias have the backing of Qods Force, the special operations branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp. US military officials called the Iranian-backed militias who battled American forces up until 2011, such as Hezbollah Brigades and Asaib al Haq (League of the Righteous), the Mahdi Army Special Groups.

 

With the backing of Qods Force, Sadr’s militias maintain the ability to strike US interests in the Gulf region and the Levant.

 

(Snip)