Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq عصائب أهل الحق | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Qais al-Khazali |
| Founded | July 2006 (2006-07) |
| Ideology | Shia Islamism Khomeinism[1] Wilayat al-Faqih[2] Anti-Sunnism[3] Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr Thought[4] Anti-Zionism[5] Anti-Americanism[6] Pan-Islamism[7] Anti-West[8] Anti-LGBT[9] Kazem al-Haeri Thought[10] |
| Political position | Right-wing tofar-right |
| Religion | Shia Islam |
| National affiliation | Fatah Alliance Al-Sadiqoun Bloc |
| International affiliation | Axis of Resistance |
| Colours | White,Green |
| Seats in theCouncil of Representatives: | 17 / 329 [11] |
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH;Arabic:عصائب أهل الحقAṣaʾib ʾAhl al-Haqq, "League of the Righteous"), also known as theKhazali Network (Arabic:شبكة الخزعلي), is an IraqiShia Islamistpolitical party andparamilitary organization previously active in theIraqi insurgency andSyrian Civil War.[49][50] During theIraq War, it was the largest of theSpecial Groups (Iraq). It's part of thePopular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd Brigades, cooperating with the Iraqi government in its fight against ISIS.[51]
AAH is funded, trained, equipped and guided byIRGC'sQuds Force andHezbollah'sUnit 3800.[52][53][54][55] Members of AAH, as part of PMF, receive Iraqi government salaries[citation needed] after the PMF units were officially integrated into Iraqi security forces in 2018.[citation needed]
AAH has claimed responsibility for over 6,000 attacks onU.S.-led Coalition forces between 2006 and 2011, seeking to drive U.S. forces out of Iraq.[56][57] The militia's main tactic was to plantIEDs along the roads used by U.S. forces. These lethal roadside bombs killed and wounded hundreds of Coalition troops. Other tactics include sniper attacks, kidnappings, rocket andRPG attacks. Since 2011, AAH has assassinated Iraqi political opponents, killed civilian protesters[unreliable source?], and continued attacks on U.S. diplomatic and military presence.[58] In 2017, AAH created a party with the same name.[59]
On 3 January 2020, theU.S. Department of State announced its intent to designate AAH aterrorist organization along with two of its leaders,[60]Qais al-Khazali and his brother Laith al-Khazali, who were namedSpecially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT).[61]
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq split from theSadrist Movement in 2004.[56]Qais al-Khazali split fromMuqtada al-Sadr'sMahdi Army after theShi'a uprising in 2004 to create his own Khazali network. When the Mahdi Army signed a ceasefire with the government and the Americans and the fighting stopped, Khazali continued fighting, and during the battle Khazali was already issuing his own orders to militiamen without Muqtada al-Sadr's approval. The group's leadership (which includes Khazali,Abd al-Hadi al-Darraji (a politician in Muqtada al-Sadr'sSadr Movement) andAkram al-Kaabi), however, reconciled with al-Sadr in mid-2005. In July 2006, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq was founded and became one of the Special Groups which operated more independently from the rest of the Mahdi Army. It became a completely independent organisation after the Mahdi Army's disbanding after the2008 Shi'a uprising.[62] In July 2006, A part of AAH fought alongsideHezbollah in2006 Lebanon War againstIsrael.[4] In November 2008 when Sadr created thePromised Day Brigade to succeed the Mahdi Army, he asked AAH (and other Special Groups) to join, but they declined.[63]
AAH has claimed responsibility for over 6,000 attacks in Iraq[56] including theOctober 10, 2006 attack on Camp Falcon, the assassination of the American military commander inNajaf, theMay 6, 2006 downing of a British Lynx helicopter and theOctober 3, 2007 attack on the Polish ambassador.[64] Their most known attack, however, is the January 20, 2007Karbala provincial headquarters raid where they infiltrated the U.S. Army's offices atKarbala, killed one soldier, then abducted and killed four more American soldiers. After the raid, the U.S. military launched a crackdown on AAH and the raid's mastermindAzhar al-Dulaimi was killed in Baghdad, while much of the group's leadership captured including the brothers Qais andLaith al-Khazali and LebaneseHezbollah memberAli Musa Daqduq who was Khazali's advisor was in charge of their relations with Hezbollah. After these arrests in 2007, Akram al-Kaabi, who had been the military commander of the Mahdi Army until May 2007, led the organisation.[62] In May 2007, AAH kidnapped British IT expertPeter Moore and his four bodyguards. They demanded the release of all their fighters being imprisoned by the Iraqi authorities and US military in return for his release.[citation needed] His four bodyguards were killed, but Moore himself was released when AAH's leader Qais al-Khazali was released in January 2010.[65] Prior to Qazali's release, security forces had already released over 100 of the group's members including Laith al-Khazali.[66] In 2008 many of the group's fighters and leaders fled to Iran after the Iraqi Army was allowed to re-take control ofSadr City and the Mahdi Army was disbanded. Here most fighters were re-trained in new tactics. It resulted in a major lull in the group's activity from May to July 2008.[62]
In February 2010, AAH kidnapped DoD civilian Issa T. Salomi, a naturalized American from Iraq. This was the first high-profile kidnapping of a foreigner in Iraq since the kidnapping of Peter Moore (which was also done by AAH). Salomi was released in March 2010 in exchange for four AAH militants being held in Iraqi custody.[67] In total 450 members of AAH have been handed over from US to Iraqi custody since the kidnapping of Peter Moore, over 250 of which have been released by the Iraqi authorities.[68]
On July 21, 2010, GeneralRay Odierno said Iran was supporting three Shiite extremist groups in Iraq that had been attempting to attack US bases. One of the groups was AAH and the other two were the Promised Day Brigade and Ketaib Hezbollah.[69]
In December 2010 it was reported that notorious Shi'a militia commanders such asAbu Deraa andMustafa al-Sheibani were returning from Iran to work with AAH.[70] IranianGrand AyatollahKazem al-Haeri was identified as the group's spiritual leader.[71]
In August and September 2012, AAH started a poster campaign in which they distributed over 20,000 posters of Iran'sSupreme LeaderAyatollahSayyidAli Khamenei throughout Iraq. A senior official in Baghdad's local government said municipal workers were afraid to take the posters down in fear of retribution by AAH militiamen.[72]
In July 2014, AAH militiamen killed 29 prostitutes in Baghdad'sZayouna neighborhood.[73]
In late 2018, protests inBasra, Iraq saw several Iran-related organizations being targeted.[74] Among the damage caused by protesters were several AAH offices which were set on fire.[74]
Duringprotests in Iraq in 2019, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) combatants reportedly opened fire on demonstrators attempting to set fire to the group's office inNasiriyah, killing at least nine individuals.[75]
On 3 January 2020, the United States Department of State designated AAH a foreignterrorist organization (FTO) along with two of its leaders.[60]Qais al-Khazali and his brotherLaith al-Khazali were designatedSpecially Designated Global Terrorists.[46][61] The sanctions were imposed in view of the violent suppression of civil protests in Iraq by Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq.
AAH'sSyrian branch was called theHaidar al-Karar Brigades, and led by Akram al-Kaabi, AAH's military leader was stationed inAleppo.[76] al-Kaabi is also the founder and leader of the militant groupHarakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba.
The group initially fought under the banner ofal-Abbas Brigade (a mixed Syrian, Iraqi and Lebanese Shia organization), but split in 2014 following a dispute with al-Abbas's native Syrian fighters.[76][77] Like other Iraqi Shia paramilitaries in Syria, they fought in defense of theSayyidah Zainab shrine.[53]
AAH took part in the2014 Iraqi parliamentary election as part of the Al-Sadiqoun Bloc. An electoral meeting of an estimated 100,000 supporters of Al-Sadiqoun was marred by violence as a series of bombs exploded at the campaign rally held at the Industrial Stadium in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 37 people and wounding scores others, according to Iraqi police.[78] The group organizers had planned to announce at the rally the names of its candidates for the parliamentary election. At the election, the Al-Sadiquun Bloc won just one seat out of 328 seats in the Iraqi Parliament.
AAH took part in the2018 Iraqi parliamentary election as part of the Fatah Alliance.
AAH's strength was estimated at 3,000 fighters in March 2007.[79] In mid-2008,Multinational Forces-Iraq declined to provide an estimate on the size of AAH, but noted that “their numbers have significantly dwindled because hundreds have been captured, killed, ran away or simply gave up their criminal lifestyles.”[80] In July 2011, however, officials estimated there were less than 1,000 AAH militiamen left in Iraq.[81] The group is alleged to receive some $5 million worth of cash and weapons every month from Iran.[81] In January 2012, following the American withdrawal from Iraq in December 2011, Qais al-Khazali declared the United States was defeated and that now the group was prepared to disarm and join the political process.[82]
Since the beginning of theIraqi war against ISIL, AAH has grown to around 10,000 members[16][17] and been described as one of if not the most powerful members of thePopular Mobilization Forces.[35][37][83] It has recruited hundreds of Sunni fighters to fight against ISIS.[84]
The group receives funding, training, weapons and guidance fromIran'sRevolutionary Guards'Quds Force as well as Iranian-backedLebanese groupHezbollah. By March 2007, Iran was providing the network between $750,000 and $3 million in arms and financial support each month.Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, a formerBadr Brigades member who ran an important smuggling network known as theSheibani Network, played a key role in supplying the group. The group was also supplied by a smuggling network headed byAhmad Sajad al-Gharawi,[85] a formerMahdi Army commander, mostly active inMaysan Governorate.[86]
As of 2006 AAH had at least four major operational branches:[62]
Imam al-Hadi Brigade – Responsible forEast-Baghdad (mainly the Shi'a Thawra,Nissan andKarrada districts but with some minor activity in the mixed Rusafa district and the mainly SunniAdhamiyah district)On Sunday, a news channel associated with the Iraqi armed group Asaib Ahl al-Haq released a report in which Assad was featured alongside other members of "the criminal Baath Party" including former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein.
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