Kataib Hezbollah Rejects Iraq's September 30 Disarmament Deadline, Deepening Crisis

Kataib Hezbollah, a heavily armed Iran-aligned Iraqi paramilitary group, has rejected Baghdad's September 30, 2026 deadline to surrender weapons to state control, pledging to retain "resistance weapons." Three other factions agreed to integrate into state forces. The split fractures Iraq's Shia political bloc and tests Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's authority as US pressure drives the disarmament push.