Kataib Hezbollah demands Iraq end “air blockade” on Iran

• Kataib Hezbollah demands Baghdad end its "air blockade" on Iran after Thursday.
• The Iran-backed group threatens measures including closing border crossings.
• It also warns it will shoot down "hostile" aircraft violating Iraqi airspace.
• The US-led coalition has a Wednesday deadline to end its mission in Iraq.

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi armed group backed by Iran, has threatened to down any "hostile" aircraft that enters Iraq's airspace, as the US-led military coalition wraps up its pullout from the country this week.

The group would first issue a warning before opening fire, said Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, an official with the group, in a statement.

Al-Assaf also urged the Iraqi government to stop what he called an "air blockade" of Iran once Thursday has passed, and said the group could respond with steps including the closure of border crossings.

Iraq halted commercial flights to and from Iran on Friday, after Washington imposed sanctions on Iranian airlines.

The coalition must conclude its mission by Wednesday. Iraqi officials said US-led troops have started to leave a base in the northern city of Erbil.

Kataib Hezbollah emerged in the mid-2000s and belongs to the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella organisation of Iraqi Shia militias.

Read more: US military nears complete withdrawal from Iraq, ending two-decade deployment