Media: Senior Hashd al-Shaabi official detained in Iraq

A senior Hashd al-Shaabi official, Abu Jaafar al-Kaabi, along with three other members of the organisation, has been detained in Baghdad, Al Hadath reports in a post on X, citing sources in Iraq’s security forces.

The source also said an Iraqi court fully acquitted another commander, al-Yakoubi, who had been suspected of attacks on US facilities, and ordered his release.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is reportedly negotiating with five other major groups over handing over their weapons: Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Kataib Hezbollah, Saraya Awliya al-Dam and Ashab al-Kahf.

Hashd al-Shaabi is an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary organisation established in 2014.

It is a coalition of various armed groups with a combined strength of around 200,000 fighters and is described as being under the control of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov