Overview
- The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for tips leading to the arrest of Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, also known as Abu Alaa al-Walai, who leads Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
- Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada is accused by Washington of killing Iraqi civilians and striking U.S. diplomatic sites as well as U.S. bases and personnel in Iraq and Syria.
- The new offer follows a similar $10 million reward announced earlier in April for Kataib Hezbollah chief Ahmad al-Hamidawi, reflecting a coordinated focus on Iran-backed Iraqi factions.
- U.S. officials are pairing the rewards with financial pressure on Baghdad, including halting dollar cash shipments and freezing security program funding, to spur action against allied militias.
- The militia is aligned with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and fields fighters within Iraq’s state-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces, while al-Saraji holds a seat in the ruling Shiite bloc known as the Coordination Framework.