The Militia Digest

Abu Mujahid al-Asaf (Kataib Hezbollah — security official) said a government failing Iraqis would be brought down by any means as he challenged Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi over restrictions on Iranian aviation. He said resistance forces would warn aircraft they deemed hostile in Iraqi airspace and then work to shoot them down. He also warned that continued restrictions after 1 October could lead to closure of crossings with countries participating in them. Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) carried his statement. Separately, a Russia Today report attributed a warning of measures against al-Zaidi’s government after 1 October to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq; its headline went further, saying the government could be brought down. An unnamed Coordination Framework source cited by Eram News said armed factions were preparing political and field escalation over the flights, but said they had not decided to topple the government. Al-Asaf’s threat is public; the wider preparations and the separate Islamic Resistance warning remain press-attributed accounts.

Al-Nujaba TV (Nujaba — official) said a sit-in called by Nujaba began at Najaf airport’s gate on 28 September over restrictions on Iranian flights. Hussein al-Saidi (Nujaba — Executive Council deputy chairman) then asked participants to suspend it after contacts told him the airport would open; he said they would return in greater numbers and anger if it did not. The protesters’ closing statement demanded cancellation of the restrictions across Iraqi airports. Iraq’s senior state leaders instead backed the government’s request for a U.S. Treasury exception for Najaf. Government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said Iraqi Airways had resumed Najaf–Iran flights while Iranian airlines remained unable to operate at Iraqi airports. Al-Kornet al-Kata'ibi (KSS — affiliated) described the Najaf ban on Iranian aviation as ended, while Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) said the reported service covered Iraqi Airways alone. Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) had reported an ambassador’s expectation that Iranian companies would resume flights through Najaf; the government spokesperson said Iranian airlines still could not operate at Iraqi airports.

The Najaf arrangement left lawmakers pressing over the restrictions. Hamid al-Musawi (Badr — parliamentary bloc spokesman) accused the Najaf governor of seeking Transport Ministry approval to stop Iranian aircraft landing at the airport. Al-Musawi argued that the investment-run airport was outside the ministry’s authority and asked the governor to explain his insistence; the governor’s alleged request remains his account. Ahmad al-Asadi (AAH — Sadiqoun MP) said parliamentary action was under way to prevent the ban, warning of heavy economic losses. Al-Ittijah TV reported Najaf MPs were gathering signatures to host al-Zaidi. Those efforts follow earlier calls for a resolution and an extraordinary session; al-Asadi announced no vote or motion.

The coalition’s military mission in Iraq is scheduled to end on 30 September, the date al-Asaf said Iraqis would celebrate the expulsion of U.S. and NATO forces. Al-Kornet al-Kata'ibi relayed the Peshmerga Ministry’s warning that the Kurdistan Region would be left without air defence after the departure. 964media reported the ministry's position that Baghdad was responsible for protecting the Region’s airspace. On weapons, Shafaq News cited an informed source saying Iraq’s four senior authorities were due on 28 September to discuss bringing armed factions’ weapons under state control; that was a planned discussion, not an agreed measure. State of Law leader Nouri al-Maliki had said a committee would announce a weapons-control programme and timetable on 30 September, not that weapons would be handed over that day. Al-Nujaba TV carried the Central Committee for Popular Organization’s announcement of a Baghdad rally at 4 p.m. on 30 September to mark the scheduled departure.