The influential Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hezbollah has pledged to keep up its armed activities, as Baghdad faces mounting US pressure to disarm factions supported by Iran.
Since the US-Israeli war on Iran was launched at the end of February, groups operating under the banner of the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" have carried out repeated drone and rocket attacks on US interests in Iraq.
Washington has bombed facilities and bases belonging to the groups, including Kataeb Hezbollah, killing dozens of their members.
Since taking office in mid-May, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has pledged to restrict weapons to the hands of the Iraqi state.
But on Saturday, Kataeb Hezbollah security chief Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said that the group's armed activities were "a collective duty, and we will carry it out on behalf of the brothers who have decided to abandon it".
