AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Hojat al-Islam Sayyid Sadr al-Din Qabanchi, the Friday Prayer Leader of Najaf, described the joint airstrike carried out by American and Saudi forces as a "new page in confrontation" given the escalating security and military tensions in the region.
The Friday Prayer Leader of Najaf addressed the issue of disarmament of groups by the Iraqi government and said, "When a thief is in your house, surrendering weapons makes no sense."
Hojat al-Islam Sayyid Sadr al-Din Qabanchi, regarding the recent bombardment that targeted Hashd al-Shaabi, asked, "Are we facing a new coalition against Iraq?"
He further referred to the fatwa of defensive jihad (Jihad al-Kifai) issued by Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, the supreme religious authority of Shiites in Iraq, in mid-2014 at the time of ISIS's control over areas equivalent to two-thirds of Iraq's territory, which led to the formation of Hashd al-Shaabi, and added, "Fifty countries united and created the terrorist ISIS group, but a five-line fatwa brought down this conspiracy."
Hojat al-Islam Qabanchi, regarding the martyrdom and wounding of more than 50 people in the American-Saudi attacks on Hashd al-Shaabi bases in a number of Iraqi provinces, said, "Once again, Iraqi blood was mixed with Iranian blood."
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