By Anas al-Bar | 2024-02-29

Iran-aligned Iraqi militias have been storing "hundreds of tons" of explosives in depots in and around the Iraqi border town of al-Qaim and smuggling arms across the border into Syria, to the growing alarm of local residents.

The activities of Kataib Hizbullah are of particular concern, they said, as the militia is smuggling both arms and drugs -- activities fraught with danger -- and as its attacks on international coalition forces have made it a target.

These risky activities endanger local residents who have no connection to the various militias, as stockpiles of arms are stored near their homes. The illicit dealings also bring violent and lawless groups and individuals into the area.

According to a 44-year-old resident, who spoke to Al-Fassel on condition that his name not be used, Kataib Hizbullah has secret warehouses in various locations in al-Qaim, where it stores weapons, missiles, mines and other equipment.

Its arsenal reportedly consists of "hundreds of tons" of explosives, he said.

This massive powder keg threatens the lives of the thousands of civilians who returned to their homes in search of stability after the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) was expelled from the area in 2017.

He noted that the explosion of any arms depot for any reason will lead to a "humanitarian catastrophe" that will cost the lives of innocent civilians.

Lethal weapons in residential areas

Some of Kataib Hizbullah's headquarters buildings and missile depots are near private homes, according to a 31-year-old local resident, who spoke to Al-Fassel on condition that only his first name, Ahmed, be used.

The militia deliberately stores its most lethal weapons in residential areas so that it "won't be targeted by international coalition warplanes," Ahmed said.

"The only thing that matters to Kataib Hizbullah elements is to protect their weapons," he said. "They are not concerned about our lives, of course."

Since 2016, there have been at least 30 explosions inside the weapon depots of various militias, in Baghdad and in other parts of the country, including a July 2022 massive explosion at a depot in al-Tanak, a residential area in western al-Qaim.

Explosions resulting from unsafe arms storage and transportation cause stored projectiles to detonate and fall on nearby homes, killing or injuring hundreds of civilians and causing massive damage to residential buildings and infrastructure.

A 38-year-old local resident, using the pseudonym Salam al-Obeidi, said Kataib Hizbullah has been in control of al-Qaim for years, and uses it as a "major border hub for the collection of Iranian weapons."

It later smuggles these weapons to militias in Syria through border crossings and roads that it controls, especially south of al-Qaim, he told Al-Fassel.

These illegal border crossings also are used to bring illicit drugs into Iraq.

Illegal trade in arms and drugs finances the militia's acts of terrorism, al-Obeidi said.

The militia poses an increasing danger to local residents as a result of its weapon storage and its other activities, which include smuggling and the ongoing attacks on international coalition bases, he said.

Local residents pay the price

Of all the various Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq, Kataib Hizbullah inflicts the most harm on the Iraqi people, political analyst Tariq al-Shammari said.

The militia's history is marked by a long series of crimes and violations.

The United States designated Kataib Hizbullah as a terrorist organization in 2009, just two years after the militia was founded, he told Al-Fassel, noting that most of its leaders have been blacklisted for attacking Iraqis.

The militia is behind several recent attacks on bases housing US forces in Iraq and Syria, and its January drone attack on Tower 22 in northeast Jordan near the border with Syria killed three US soldiers and provoked a sharp response.

Kataib Hizbullah works for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and is under its command, al-Shammari said.

Because it is an Iranian affiliate, the group's fingerprints are clearly visible in any operation that serves the agenda of the Iranian regime, he added, noting that the regime is using all its proxies to spread terrorism and conflict in the region.

Meanwhile, communities on the Iraq-Syria border are suffering, especially al-Qaim, al-Shammari said, as militiamen are destroying the lives of local residents by importing drugs and stealing their resources.

The stockpiling of weapons and the militarization of the area have begun to push more families who had returned from their forced displacement under ISIS to migrate away from their areas again, out of fear for their safety, he said.