A Telegram group identified as "أشبال المهندس" ("[Lion] Cubs of al-Muhandis") — a reference to Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the Kata'ib Hezbollah founder and PMF deputy commander killed alongside Qassem Soleimani in the January 2020 US strike — is openly operating on the platform with roughly 350 members.
Three details stand out:
The branding. "Ashbal" (cubs) is the established convention for youth wings across the Iran-aligned resistance axis. Naming a youth-coded group after a US-designated terrorist signals next-generation loyalist cultivation, not mere commemoration.
The messaging. The group's bio pairs a defiance slogan ("no room for retreat, no room for weakness") with hayhat minna al-dhilla — the Karbala-derived rallying cry that functions as the ideological signature of Kata'ib Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the broader muqawama ecosystem.
The accessibility. The group is private, access is only via admins, on a restricted growth pattern, and only patrons and close people to the PMF have this kind of access. Griffinfly has specialized OSINT consultants that have this kind of access. — a reminder that militia-aligned mobilization and identity-building infrastructure continues to operate in the open on mainstream platforms, six years after the strike that created its martyrs.
Small channels like this rarely make headlines. But they are the connective tissue of recruitment funnels: low-cost, deniable, and aimed at the demographic that will staff these networks in 2030.
The Griffinfly continues to monitor and map this ecosystem.