All posts tagged: militia

Powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq say they will start handing in weapons to authorities

Powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq say they will start handing in weapons to authorities

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Two of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed militias said on Tuesday they would begin handing in their weapons to the authorities, a major step in the new government’s effort to rein in militias that have long operated on their own even though they were nominally under state command. One of the groups, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said it had formed a committee to oversee the move, inventory its fighters, weapons and equipment, and coordinate with the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s armed forces. It cast the decision as a response to calls by Iraq’s top Shiite religious authority and the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework, the largest bloc in Parliament that dominates Iraqi politics. The second group, the Imam Ali Brigades, made a similar announcement saying the time has come “to build a strong state with full sovereignty.” It added that its aim was now to have weapons only with the state and help boost state institutions. The war in the Middle East, which the United States and Israel launched on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, …

The New Era of Militia Influencers

The New Era of Militia Influencers

Just over a week into the US and Israel’s war with Iran, Eric Roscher, an Air Force veteran, published a YouTube video on what he describes as the “very real concerns surrounding sleeper cells and terrorist threats” in the US. The video, titled “Credible DOMESTIC Threat? FBI warns of attack—Drills/Considerations for the Prepared Citizen,” was produced by Roscher’s Florida-based company Barrel and Hatchet, which runs military-style training, sells branded merchandise and tactical gear, and produces online content. In the video, Roscher and his associates advise viewers to carry “extra mags” and “that truck gun,” while keeping “your head on a swivel.” Toward the end of the post, Roscher shows off a tactical vest that’s on sale from one of the video’s sponsors. The video, which is part of YouTube’s monetization program and has a total of eight ads, has been viewed over 110,000 times. (YouTube did not respond to a request for comment.) Barrel and Hatchet is not a militia, but the company and Roscher are part of a broader rebranding of the entire militia …

Airstrike Kills Iran-Aligned Militia Commander South of Baghdad – Police Sources

Airstrike Kills Iran-Aligned Militia Commander South of Baghdad – Police Sources

BAGHDAD, ⁠March ⁠4 (Reuters) – A ⁠commander from ​Islamic ‌Resistance in ‌Iraq, ⁠an umbrella ⁠group of Iran-backed ​armed ​factions, was killed ⁠in ⁠an ⁠airstrike on Wednesday, ​police sources ​said. The ⁠sources ⁠said the commander and his ⁠driver were killed when the strike hit ⁠their vehicle south of Baghdad. (Reporting ​by Ahmed ​Rasheed) Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters. Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026 Source link

The Right-Wing Militia Leader Who Opposes ICE

The Right-Wing Militia Leader Who Opposes ICE

Not so long ago, Ammon Bundy was the most famous right-wing militia leader in America. His two armed standoffs with federal agents had made him the face of the Patriot Movement: a loose assemblage of anti-government extremists, Second Amendment maximalists, and more than a few white nationalists. Even some mainstream elements of the Republican Party embraced him as a modern folk hero. But Bundy’s criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown now threatens to make him a pariah within his own community. In November, Bundy self-published a long essay titled “The Stranger,” in which he labeled the Trump administration’s treatment of undocumented immigrants a “moral failure.” “To call such people criminals for lacking official permission” to be in the country, he wrote, “is to forget the moral law of God, the historical truth of our own founding, and the Constitutional ideals that continue to define justice.” On a recent livestream following the killing of Renee Good in Minnesota, Bundy told his audience that ICE’s conduct “clearly looks like tyranny.” If the government threatened his family, …

Syria says it has reached ceasefire with U.S.-backed Kurdish militia

Syria says it has reached ceasefire with U.S.-backed Kurdish militia

ISTANBUL — Syria’s government said Sunday that it had signed a “ceasefire and full integration” agreement with a powerful Kurdish-led militia that controlled large swaths of territory in the country’s northeast — a critical step, if the agreement is implemented, toward unifying a fractured Syria after years of civil war and the precipitous fall of its dictatorship. Source link