The killing of three American soldiers in a drone strike marks a major escalation in what the United States says is an ongoing campaign against it by Iranian-backed militias.
Joe Biden She pledged that Washington would “respond.” In response to the attack on US forces in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border on Saturday, which also injured dozens of soldiers.
The president blamed Iranian-backed militias The first American killed after months of strikes by these groups against US forces throughout the Middle East.
Iran He said that “resistance groups” do not receive orders from the Islamic Republic.
However, a number of groups across the region are known to have received Iranian support.
Some of these – e.g agitation, Hizb allah And the The Houthis – These have been discussed in detail in other Sky News stories, but others are less well known.
Islamic resistance in Iraq
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on US forces over the weekend, an umbrella term used by a number of Iranian-backed groups in Iraq.
The groups under its banner have participated in armed operations against American forces stationed in Iraq and Syria, as a result of America's role in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Using generic branding may help hide which group is carrying out a particular attack, according to The Washington Institute, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Members of the Shiite Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades at a funeral in 2014. Photograph: Reuters
The fact that they are coordinating under one brand is important, the research center says, as they typically tend to “protect” their individual identities and attribution for attacks.
She added, “Their willingness to erase these identities…indicates that a higher power is coordinating between them,” pointing the finger of blame at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
It is believed that the Islamic resistance in Iraq includes groups such as:
– Tashkil al-Waritheen (The Inheritors)
– Kataib Hezbollah (Kata’ib Hezbollah)
– Asaib Ahl al-Haq (Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq)
– Hezbollah Al-Nujaba Movement (Hezbollah Saints Movement)
– Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades (Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigade)
– Badr Organization
The destroyed office of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq group in Basra, Iraq, in 2022. Photograph: Reuters
Zaynabiyoun Brigade (Syria)
The Zainabiyoun Brigade is a Shiite militia created and trained by the Revolutionary Guard and its branches.
Its origins can be traced to the attacks on the Sayyida Zeinab Mosque in Damascus in 2015, targeted by Sunni militants, and for which Iran recruited some of the first Pakistani Shiites to fight, according to the India-based Observer Research Foundation.
She grew up around the time of the Syrian Civil War and participated in the fight against it Islamic country.
In 2019, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the group for its support of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force and human rights violations in Iran.
Read more:
The West is now embroiled in an ever-widening conflict in the Middle East
A British warship shoots down a Houthi drone
Fatemiyoun Brigade (Syria)
Dating back to the 1980s, the Fatemiyoun Division is an Afghan militia made up mostly of Hazara refugees from Afghanistan. Afghanistan Living in Iran.
Since 2014, it has been deployed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to fight in Syria alongside Assad regime forces.
Similar to the Zainabiyoun Brigade, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the Fatemiyoun Brigade in 2019 for its support of the IRGC-QF and human rights violations in Iran.
It has been accused of involvement in war crimes, with Human Rights Watch claiming that Afghan children as young as 14 years old fought in its ranks after being recruited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Mourners carry the coffin of a fighter from the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades in 2013. Photography: Reuters
Saraya al Ashtar and Saraya al Mukhtar (Bahrain)
Saraya al-Ashtar, also known as the Ashtar Brigades, is based in Bahrain, but is considered to be funded, trained and armed by Iran.
The United States has accused it of carrying out terrorist attacks in an attempt to overthrow the Bahraini government.
Like other Iranian-affiliated militias in the region, Saraya al-Ashtar has adopted the branding of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Saraya Al-Mukhtar is another group based in Bahrain that is allegedly backed by Iran.
The group's ultimate goal is reportedly to overthrow the Al Khalifa – Bahrain's ruling family – and turn the country into an Iranian province.
