The official banner of the the Victorious Brigade.
On March 26, an Iraqi armed group calling itself the Victorious Brigade [Liwa al-Ghalibun in Arabic] claimed responsibility for a recent drone attack that targeted a United States base near the northeastern Syrian city of al-Hasakah.
The attack, which took place on March 23, claimed the life of a U.S. contractor and left five U.S. service members and a second U.S. contractor wounded.
In a statement, the Victorious Brigade said that the attack was a response to the assassination of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Deputy-Commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units, and Commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Qassim Soleimani. The two commanders were killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq more than three years ago.
“Our operation and other operations that will take place with God’s permission are a part of the legitimate response to the crime against the commanders of the victory as well as to U.S. crimes in the country [Iraq] and elsewhere in the region,” the statement reads.
The shadowy pro-Iran group added that it is determined to carry out more attacks against U.S. forces using even more advanced weapons.
“The Americans will not enjoy security in Iraq and abroad until the complete exit of the U.S. occupation forces from our country,” the group concluded.
The U.S. Central Command retaliated to the attack with a series of strikes against facilities in the governorate of Deir Ezzor used by forces affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Pentagon said the intelligence community had determined that the suicide drone used in the attack was of Iranian origin.
The Iranian Advisory Committee in Syria said that the U.S. strikes had killed seven of their fighters and wounded seven others, without specifying the fighters’ nationality.
In response to the strikes, Iranian-backed forces launched three rocket and drone attacks against two bases of the U.S.-led coalition, the Conoco gas plant and the Green Village in the eastern and southeastern countryside of Syria’s Deir Ezzor, between March 23 and 24. One U.S. service member was wounded.
President Joe Biden vowed to respond to any attack on U.S. troops in Syria. Yet, he stressed that his country is not looking for a conflict with Iran. From its side, Tehran warned that any attack on its affiliates in the war-torn country will be met with a swift response. Meanwhile, Damascus called on the U.S. to withdraw all troops from its northeastern region.
The limited military confrontation between the U.S. military and Iranian-backed forces appears to be over. However, a new round of escalation can’t be ruled out as tensions between the two sides remain at high levels.
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Keep bleeding the US forces stealing oil.
A just cause against Anglo American occupiers.
Punks, shit is getting real.
Shadowy group? Can‘t you read? They‘re clearly Hezbollah, they say so on their emblem, literally on top („Hizbu Llāh, humu l-ghālibūn“) and lower „al-muqāwama al-Islāmiyya“ = Hezbollah“.