From Hezbollah Brigades to Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, including the "Brigades of Sayyid al-Shuhada," Iranian-backed factions within Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) launched a simultaneous attack against Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi on Sunday, shortly after security forces announced his survival of an assassination attempt that targeted his home in central Baghdad with a drone carrying explosives.
In response to the attack on Kazemi, the spokesperson for the Hezbollah Brigades, known as "Abu Ali al-Askari," mocked the assassination attempt, claiming that "playing the victim has become one of the worn-out tactics.” He further stated in a tweet, "No one in Iraq has the desire to lose a drone on the home of a former prime minister."
Additionally, he attacked any Iraqi or party that supported Kazemi, writing, "May God’s curse be upon those who supported you."
Kazemi was also warned by Abu Alaa al-Walayi, Secretary-General of the "Brigades of Sayyid al-Shuhada," through his Twitter account, accusing him of being involved in the shooting of protesters affiliated with these factions over the past two days in Baghdad. He asserted that the current prime minister would not be appointed again, stating in his tweet, "I tell you; forget two things: first, repeating the farce of renewing your presidency, and second, you will not return to your previous position."
Furthermore, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq described the attack on Kazemi's home as "fabricated." Mahmoud al-Rubaie, spokesperson for the political office of the Sadikoon Movement, tweeted today that "the explosion is manufactured and a diversion, aimed at occupying public opinion and covering up what he called 'yesterday's crimes,'" referring to clashes between supporters of the "loyalist" factions and security forces in the capital in protest of electoral results.
In parallel, many Iraqi activists shared a video of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali from the Green Zone last Saturday night, in which he accused Kazemi of being involved in the deaths of protesters, claiming that his remarks were a "clear condemnation" and evidence of the alleged involvement of the "loyalist" factions in targeting the prime minister's location early that morning.
In a recorded segment during his participation in a mourning event for one of the casualties from the rallies of PMF supporters over the past two days, Khazali accused Kazemi of ordering security personnel to deliberately fire live ammunition at the protesters, who raised only one demand: to reject electoral fraud. He further argued that the prime minister's actions confirmed his involvement in these fraudulent operations.
It is noteworthy that a campaign of mobilization and accusations against Kazemi had preceded the assassination attempt that occurred at dawn. For about two weeks, supporters of these armed factions within the PMF had been staging sit-ins and protests in the Green Zone, accusing the government and the electoral commission of falsifying the results, especially after their significant decline in the early elections held on October 10. The protesters raised posters of Kazemi, accusing him of murder and fraud, also threatening to hold him accountable!
