Basra, Iraq
Iraqi security and political sources told Alhurra that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has deployed four military brigades to Basra following intelligence indicating that Iraqi resistance factions are planning to attack Kuwait from the province using drones and cross-border operations if war breaks out with Iran.
Baghdad has not officially announced the reinforcements. However, Chief of Staff Abdul Amir Yarallah visited Basra, where he met with Governor Asaad al-Eidani and senior security officials to discuss securing the border.
According to the report, intelligence about the alleged plot came from a Gulf state. Coordination is now underway between Iraqi intelligence, the military, and Gulf countries to prevent attacks against Gulf states originating from Iraqi territory.
The report also highlights several previous incidents: drones and rockets launched from border areas in Basra, some targeting American forces in Kuwait; Saraya Awliya al-Dam claiming responsibility for an attack on Kuwait in March; the prevention of a rocket launch in Al-Zubair; and the storming of the Kuwaiti consulate.
Al-Zaidi has pledged to disarm the factions and bring all weapons under exclusive state control by June 2027. This comes amid tensions with Kuwait over maritime borders and ahead of his planned visits to Kuwait and Bahrain.
American concerns are rooted in the experience of the previous February–March round of fighting, during which approximately half of US fatalities occurred on Iraqi soil, including six personnel killed in the crash of a refueling aircraft in western Iraq, alongside a drone strike against an American facility in Kuwait.
In Washington’s strategic calculations, Iraq remains a major source of concern, and the Iraqi resistance factions are a formidable force that cannot be underestimated.