Iraq's powerful al-Fatah Alliance lashed out at Washington for blocking the country's efforts to equip its Armed Forces with advanced missile defense systems. RNA - "The US prevented Iraq's defense ministry, Army, Air Force and Air Defense Force from being a well equipped force 2010-2013, which resulted in the ISIL attack against Iraq," al-Fatah Spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi was quoted as saying by the Arabic-language al-Nahrain news website.
He called on the Iraqi government to sign contracts to purchase advanced defense systems from different manufacturing states to prevent foreign aggression against the country.
In relevant remarks earlier this month, Secretary-General of Iraq's popular Al-Nujaba Movement Akram al-Kaabi warned of Washington and its allies' plots against his country, saying that the American forces had deactivated Iraq's missile defense shield.
"The Americans have deactivated and weakened Iraq's air defense system," Kaabi said.
He described the US as weaker than the past, but meantime said that the Americans are after weakening Iraq in collaboration with Israel, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
"The Zionist regime tries to humiliate the Arab states, but it is not strong itself and is weaker than the spider's den," al-Kaabi said.
His comments came after Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraq’s Popular Mobilization) forces in a statement announced last month that Israeli drones backed by the US aircraft pounded their positions near the border with Syria.
The Hashd al-Sha’abi in a statement reported that two Israeli drones struck its military positions in Akashat-Alqaem Road in al-Anbar province 15 kilometers from the border with Syria.
The statement noted that the attack has taken place with the aerial support of the US and monitoring of a huge surveillance balloon near the site of the attack, and said that the attack took place with the start of the Phase 4 of Eradeh al-Nasr (the Will of Victory) military operation jointly conducted by the Iraqi Army, Police Force and Hashd al-Sha’abi against the ISIL remnants in the Western part of the country.
It noted that a Hashd al-Sha’abi member was killed and another was wounded in the Israeli drone attacks.
Meantime, Hashd al-Sha’abi commander Hadi al-Jazayeri told the Arabic-language al-Ma’aloumeh news website that the continued drone attacks on Hashd al-Sha’abi’s military positions would be given a harsh response by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces as already warned by his deputy Abu al-Mahdi al-Mohandes.
Al-Jazayeri pointed to the defeat of the US-Israeli plots targeting Hashd al-Sha’abi in Iraq and the region, and said that such defeats had resulted in Israeli drone attacks on Hashd al-Sha’abi’s military positions.
Al-Jazayeri also warned that any flight taking place over Iraqi sky and without the permission of the Iraqi government is regarded an act of aggression.
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