Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

International-UN-NGOs

The UN Secretary General is all smiles meeting in Baghdad with the grinning terrorist Qais Khazali

2023-03-02

[Twitter]

The UN Secretary General is all smiles meeting in Baghdad with the grinning terrorist Qais Khazali, who killed hundreds of US troops, murdered 1000s of Iraqis, & routinely bombards US personnel in Iraq & Syria. pic.twitter.com/Gtt9k739KO
— Joel Rayburn (@joel_rayburn) March 1, 2023

Qais Khazali is the leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq — League of the Righteous a.k.a. the Khazali Network — one of the Iranian catspaw paramilitary groups that make up the PMF and since 2017 also a Shiite political party beholden to Iran. Mr. Khazali and his followers split off from Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army in 2004, and have claimed responsibility for over 6,000 attacks on Coalition forces in 2006-2011 alone, resulting in hundreds of American casualties. Their favoured tactic was the roadside IED.

Link

Iraq

A leader of Saraya Al-Salam was killed in Maysan, another injured

2022-11-25

[Shafaq News] On Thursday, a leader in the Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) faction was killed, and another was maimed in an armed attack in the Maysan governorate, southern Iraq.

A local source told Shafaq News agency that unidentified gunnies killed a high-ranking commander and maimed another.

The maimed is in critical health condition. The source said.

The security services cordoned off the scene to find the perpetrators.

Saraya al-Salam, headed by Mustafa al-Hamidawi, is the military wing of the Sadrist Movement led by the Shiite Cleric Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
Moqtada <q>Tater</q> al-Sadr

...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival, al-Khoei, assassinated only a few hours after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
; it is basically responsible for securing the Samarra district, which includes the shrine of two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams.

The faction is a 2014 Mahdi Army revival that confronted the US forces in Iraq.

The Brigades has been involved in the fight against ISIS in many regions of Iraq, including Samarra, Diyala, Amerli, Jurf al-Sakhar, and Ishaqi districts.

After declaring victory over ISIS, former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi decided to join the popular armed forces with the army and police formations.

The Brigades are now a part of Popular Mobilization Forces but under the direct command of al-Sadr.

Link

Iraq

Al-Sadr military wing forces kill an ISIS member in Samarra

2022-09-22

[Shafaq News] On Wednesday, a terrorist was killed, and another fled southeast of Samarra, southeast of Tikrit
...birthplace of Saddam Hussein...
A security source told Shafaq News Agency that a force from the Saraya al-Salam Samarra Operations Command ambushed two ISIS members in Jalam Samarra, which resulted in the death of one terrorist. At the same time, the other was able to run away.

The Saraya al-Salam forces continued to look for the ISIS terrorist, and a joint support force arrived at the scene.

Saraya al-Salam (Al-Salam Brigades), headed by Mustafa al-Hamidawi, is the military wing of the Sadrist Movement led by the Shiite Cleric Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
Moqtada <q>Tater</q> al-Sadr

Link

Iraq

New guerrilla war in Iraq

2022-07-29

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Artemy Sharapov

[REGNUM] Iraqi groups of radical Shia Muslims declared jihad on Turkey. Military bases, diplomatic missions and other Turkish facilities located on the territory of Iraq are being attacked. Shiite leaders accuse the Turkish military of killing Iraqi civilians and promise to transfer the war to Turkey in the near future. For Ankara, the opening of a “new partisan front” is a serious threat that could significantly change Turkish plans in the Middle East.

The actions of the Turkish army became the main subject of discussion in the Iraqi parliament in July 2022. After the Turkish army attacked the outskirts of the city of Zakho in the north of the country on July 21, a number of political figures demanded that the Iraqi authorities take measures against the Turkish military presence. Despite the fact that Ankara denies any involvement in the incident, Iraqi politicians are calling for an end to diplomatic and economic ties with Turkey.

However, while discussions and discussions are going on in the country's parliament, the radicals "on the streets" use popular discontent to their advantage. Demonstrators smash Turkish shops and picket diplomatic missions. In a number of Iraqi media, Turkish troops are referred to as the “Ottoman occupying army”, hinting at the imperial ambitions of the Turkish government, which wants to revive the Ottoman Empire. The protest gradually gains momentum and, as is often the case in Iraq, turns into a full-scale military confrontation.

A number of new armed groups appeared in Iraq, which declared jihad on Turkey and declared their readiness to transfer military operations to Turkish soil. The Saraya-aulia-l-Dam grouping launched several missile attacks on the bases of the Turkish army in northern Iraq. Another group, Saraya Ababil, launched several kamikaze drones at Turkish military bases, which led to losses in the ranks of the Turkish army.

It can be assumed that there are much more serious forces behind the groups that have declared jihad on Turkey. Earlier, Turkey's actions were condemned by the leaders of the Iraqi Shia Muslim militia "Hashd al-Shaabi" and supporters of the Mahdi Army organization. Both groups have solid experience in guerrilla operations, equipped with modern weapons, drones and missiles.

In all previous operations in the Middle East, Turkey has dealt with Kurdish guerrilla units that are capable of providing only patchy resistance. But the Hashd al-Shaabi organization, which has hundreds of thousands of fighters in its ranks, is a completely different enemy.

In the spring of 2022, the Turkish General Staff launched Operation Clenched Fist, aimed at eliminating the PKK bases in northern Iraq. The operation was partially successful as the Kurds suffered heavy casualties. However, now that not only the Kurds but also the Iraqi Shiite Arabs are opposed to the Turks, the situation is changing dramatically. Now Turkish military installations are becoming a target for shelling, the intensity of which will only increase.

Launch sites for missiles and drones are located deep in Iraqi territory, so Turkish troops cannot reach them. The use of the Air Force on the territory of Iraq can lead to an increase in anti-Turkish sentiment in the country and, accordingly, new rocket attacks.

The current situation leads the Turkish military and political leadership into a situation of "execution cannot be pardoned." Staying in Iraq is becoming extremely dangerous due to the sharply increasing losses in the ranks of the army. So, you need to either increase your military contingent, or leave. The first option is guaranteed to lead to an even greater increase in losses and increase tension in the region, and the second, in turn, will jeopardize Turkey's authority in the region.

Such an alignment will sooner or later force the Turkish leadership to turn to Iran for mediation, which can influence the Iraqi Shiite Muslims. However, for now, there is a feeling that the Iraqis are serious about a long-term guerrilla confrontation, in which they simply have no equal (since 2003, an almost uninterrupted war has been going on in the country).

Further events will show whether the Turkish army is the very “gendarme of the Middle East” that it wants to appear to be, or whether there are still other forces in the region that can act as an obstacle to the growth of Turkish influence.

Link

Iraq

ISIS killed members of Saraya Al-Salam in Samarra

2022-07-26

[Shafaq News] Two members of Saraya al-Salam, the military wing of the Sadrist movement, were killed in confrontations with ISIS in Samarra, Saladin Governorate.

In a statement, al-Saraya said that Basem Shalageh and Muhannad Shehab were killed while "defencding the homeland and the sanctities from the takfiri

...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
enemy (ISIS) in al-Nakhwa Street in Samarra."

Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck slipped the habañero into the roasted jalapeño...
a security source told Shafaq News Agency that two members of the 314th Brigade of Saraya al-Salam Brigade were killed, and three others were maimed in the attack within the Samarra Operations Sector.

The source indicated that the Saraya killed the two terrorists.

Saraya al-Salam (Al-Salam Brigades), headed by Mustafa al-Hamidawi, is the military wing of the Sadrist Movement led by the Shiite Cleric Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
Moqtada <q>Tater</q> al-Sadr

...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival, al-Khoei, assassinated only a few hours after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
; it is responsible for securing the Samarra district, which includes the shrine of two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams.

The 2014 Mahdi Army revival confronted the US forces in Iraq.

The Brigades has been involved in the fight against ISIS in many regions of Iraq, including Samarra, Diyala, Amerli, Jurf al-Sakhar, and Ishaqi district.

After declaring victory over ISIS, former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi decided to join the popular armed forces with the army and police formations.

The Brigades are now a part of Popular Mobilization Forces but under the direct command of al-Sadr.

Link

Iraq

Leader in Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq sentenced to death in Maysan

2022-02-21

[ShafaqNews] A leader in Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq

.... also known as the Khazali Network, it’s one of the Iranian-funded Popular Mobilization Forces militias. Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq split off from the Mahdi Army in 2006...

was sentenced to death today on charges of terrorism, a reliable source reported.

The source told Shafaq News agency that the Maysan Criminal Court issued a death sentence

...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead...
against the leader in the Asa'ib, Hassan Tiraz al-Kinani.

On February 2, Iraqi security forces captured a contract killer charged with more than 20 killings and homicides in the governorate of Maysan.

The Security Media Cell (SMC) said that the arrestee was caught in a raid orchestrated by the govenorate's Operations Command in al-Mashrah area.

A source told Shafaq News Agency that the arrestee is wanted for a long list of charges following Article 4/Terrorism, 406/Homicide, and 421/Abduction.

The arrestee, Hasan Trad Ghleim from the Sneid tribe, has more than 20 liquidations and 29 arrest warrants in his record.

The source said that Ghleim assassinated Judge Ahmed Faisal al-Saedi who refused to cooperate with him, referred his narcotics case to the criminal court, and issued an arrest warrant against him.

He also killed Lieutenant Hosam al-Alyawi who ordered a raid to his headquarters and attempted to arrest him for his involvement in the killing of the educational supervisor Hamid Nehme. Nehme refused to withdraw a case he filed against Ghleim.

The list of Ghleim's victims includes more than 20 persons, including members of the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq movement and al-Salam companies, in addition to civil activists, tribal figures, and civilians.

Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq issued had issued a statement refuting what was circulated by social media users about Ghleim's affiliation to the Iranian-backed movement.

The movement said it endorses the security forces in their quest to fight crime and urged them to execute a full swing campaign against the criminals.

Link

Iraq

Macho display by the Sadrist PDB in Najaf

2021-07-18

[SHAFAQ] "The Promised Day Brigade", PDB, (al-Yawm al-Maw'oud), affiliated with the Peace Companies of the Sadrist movement, executed a show of force in the streets of Najaf ahead of its participation in securing the annual pilgrimage in Muharram.

Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that the brigade troops stationed in Kufa downtown in Najaf governorate and blocked a few roads.

A statement of the Peace companies, aka Saraya al-Salam, said on Saturday, "Under the direct supervision of the Najaf Brigade Commander, Ali al-Ghurabi, and in coordination with the security forces, the Peace Companies-the Najaf Brigade of the Second Division Command is to participate in the security plan for the anniversary of the martyrdom of the ambassador of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) Moslem Ibn Aqil."

The Promised Day Brigade was established as a successor of the disbanded the Army of Mahdi (Jaish al-Mahdi), Iraq's largest armed faction before disbanding it in 2008.

Link

Iraq

Sadr calls on supporters to protest against US troop presence

2020-01-15

[Rudaw] Iraq’s notorious Shiite holy man Moqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday called on his supporters and Iraqi protesters to conduct large-scale demonstrations against the presence of American troops.

The leader called for "a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations," he tweeted on Tuesday.

Anti-government protesters have been in the streets for more than three months, demanding regime change, constitutional change, and better lives in a country where poverty and corruption are widespread.

Security forces have responded with deadly violence, including live rounds and military-grade tear gas.

More than 520 protesters and security force members have been killed, and at least 17,000 people have been injured since protests began in October.

Sadr’s statement follows a non-binding resolution passed by the Iraqi parliament asking the Iraqi government to end the presence of the US-led Global Coalition against Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) forces.

"We will not bow for anyone except Allah" Sadr added in his statement, adding that the "movement" will be the start of a series of protests and strikes in order to return "dignity and illusory sovereignty" to Iraq.

Sadr, head of the Sairoon Allliance, the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, founded southern Iraq’s Mahdi Army in 2003. His militia killed and injured scores of American servicemen.

He disbanded the militia in 2008. However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
he announced the reactivation of the Mahdi Army after Soleimani's death, referring to himself as the "head of Iraqi National Resistance®."

No longer pretending to be independent? Good. Another President Trump clarification, which means we needn’t hold back from a self-named enemy. Someone send a message to Ayatollah Mike at the CIA.

Soleimani’s liquidation has proven a tipping point for the country’s Iran-aligned Shiite political class, including Sadr.

Other officials have echoed Sadr's calls for US forces to leave Iraq, and the region as a whole.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi told Rudaw during at a Sulaimani business fair that US troops "need to leave the entire Middle East."

Link

Iraq

Iraq’s Sadr reactivates famous anti-US ‘Mahdi Army’ after strike

2020-01-04

[IsraelTimes] Iraq’s militia leader turned populist politician Moqtada Sadr reactivates his Mahdi Army following a US strike that killed top Iranian and Iraqi commanders.

Taking to Twitter, Sadr orders "fighters, particularly those from the Mahdi Army, to be ready" following the strike, reactivating the notoriously anti-American force nearly a decade after he dissolved it.

Link

Iraq

Abu Ali al-Khazali was a close associate of Qassem Suleimani - killed by USAF.

2019-12-30

Much more on this story from yesterday.

Who is Qais al-Khazali?

Note al-Khazali is from Sadr City Iraq and led the Mullah's special forces but 41 Iranians and 25 PMU were killed in this bombing.

A follower of Muqtada al-Sadr's father he became a spokesman for Sadr Mahdi Army after the 2003 US invasion. He created Asaib Ahl al-Haq (عصائب أهل الحق‎) in 2006 as it emerged from the Mahdi Army's "Special Groups" and his Khazali network of followers. AAH is said to have been responsible for 6,000 attacks and eventually raised 10,000 fighters.

He was SANCTIONED by the USA on Dec 6th!

[Twitter]

Close associate of #IRGC
(#Iran 's Islamic Rev. Guard Corps ) Commander #QassemSuleimani was killed in #US strikes against $PMU bases in #Iraq and #Syria
16 others were also killed in these strikes.
US: "it was preemptive defense strikes after attack on int Coalition base" https://t.co/F4Rc2cBR1b
— Ghulam, hussain (@almahmudwhipers) December 29, 2019

Note that Iraqi government is starting to panic with this bombing.

geolocation of the second Kataib Hezbollah site reportedly targeted tonight by US airstrike near al-Qaim, Iraq https://t.co/gSIekXOokK pic.twitter.com/dIuoAUP1r8
— Samir (@obretix) December 29, 2019

#Iraq (update): 40+ casualties reported in US airstrikes carried out tonight on Kataeb Hezbollah's HQs & ammo depots near #Syria|n border (Al-Qaim area). 1st evidence available👇 pic.twitter.com/9m5YxtMADy
— Qalaat Al Mudiq (@QalaatAlMudiq) December 29, 2019

BREAKING:

U.S. forces bomb the headquarters of Iran-backed Iraqi Hezbollah in the city of Al-Qaim on the border with Iraq https://t.co/mjlvlxeYYc
— 🏴‍☠️ FJ 🏴‍☠️ (@Natsecjeff) December 29, 2019

Pentagon statement: U.S. airstrikes targeted Iran-backed Kata'ib Hizbollah’s in Iraq & Syria after American defense contractor killed in rocket attack Friday. https://t.co/hO3dbI3Vmh
— 🏴‍☠️ FJ 🏴‍☠️ (@Natsecjeff) December 29, 2019

VIDEO circulating that purports to show dead bodies of some PMU members killed in US airstrikes in Iraq. #AlQaim pic.twitter.com/XskcFHZEoI
— 🏴‍☠️ FJ 🏴‍☠️ (@Natsecjeff) December 29, 2019

https://t.co/HyHGEEfHRu
— 🏴‍☠️ FJ 🏴‍☠️ (@Natsecjeff) December 29, 2019

41 Iranians and 25 PMU members tits up.

[Twitter]
The PMU response:

Kata'ib Hezbollah commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes, vows to give crushing response to the American attack pic.twitter.com/g97LkSmZkA
— Yossi Mansharof (@Yossi_Mansharof) December 29, 2019

And another militia

🚨 BREAKING: The military commander of the Hezbollah brigades, Abu Ahmed Al-Basri: Our forces are ready to demolish the US bases and crush their rotten heads while we are awaiting the green light.
— INTELSky (@Intel_Sky) December 29, 2019

Rudaw reports the story as well:

US forces conducted airstrikes on five facilities belonging to an Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria on Sunday night, the US Department of Defense has said. Fifteen of its fighters were killed in western Iraq, an official from the militia told AFP.

The "precision defensive airstrikes" were conducted on three Kataib Hezbollah locations in Iraq and two in Syria, according to a statement from US Secretary of Defense assistant Jonathan Hoffman, in response to repeated attacks on Iraqi bases hosting US-led coalition personnel.

Among the fifteen killed were commanders, an official from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) - an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, including Kataib Hezbollah - told AFP. Iraqi Security Media Cell reported four Kataib Hezbollah members were killed and 30 injured in three airstrikes at a base on the Iraq-Syria border at 7 pm on Sunday evening.

Among those killed was militia commander Abu Ali Khazali, according to a statement from the PMF.

A base in al-Qaim, western Iraq, was one of the targeted locations, a US defense official told Rudaw English.

The five locations included "weapon storage facilities and command and control locations that KH [Kataib Hezbollah] uses to plan and execute attacks on OIR [Operation Inherent Resolve] coalition forces," according to the US Defense statement.

The strikes "will degrade KH's ability to conduct future attacks against OIR coalition forces," the statement added.

Sunday's airstrikes follow an attack on the K1 military base in Kirkuk province on Friday night.

One US civilian contractor was killed when ten missiles struck the base. At least two Iraqi policemen were killed, according to a federal police source. Several US and Iraqi service members were also injured, US officials from the Combined Joint Task Force said on Saturday morning.

The US blamed Friday's attack on Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia that forms part of the PMF, a powerful umbrella group of militias in Iraq that operate with little Iraqi government oversight.

Iraqi bases hosting US military personnel have been subject to a spate of attacks in the last two months. Iran-backed groups are suspected by the US and its allies to have conducted the attacks.

One of Iraq's biggest parliamentary alliances has condemned the airstrikes as "American aggression against Iraqi sovereignty."

"The Nasr Coalition...demands the government [of Iraq] commit the American forces present on Iraqi soil to the terms of the agreements signed between the two countries...such attacks will harm security, stability and bilateral relations," the statement read.

The Times of Israel adds:

A few hours after the strikes, four rockets exploded near a base housing US troops close to Iraq’s capital without wounding anyone, an Iraqi security official told AFP.

The military spokesman for Iraq’s outgoing prime minister Abel Abdel Mahdi decried “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty”.

Another powerful pro-Iran faction, Assaib Ahl al-Haq — whose leaders were recently hit with US sanctions — called for Americans to withdraw from Iraq.

“The American military presence has become a burden for the Iraqi state and a source of threat against our forces,” it said in a statement.

“It is therefore imperative for all of us to do everything to expel them by all legitimate means.”

Bahrain supports U.S. strikes on Kataib Hizbollah sites in Iraq, Syria

[Jpost] Bahrain expressed support for strikes conducted by the United States targeting Kataib Hezbollah facilities in Iraq and Syria, Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Israel praises US strike on Iran-backed militia, calling it a ‘turning point’

[IsraelTimes] Foreign Minister Israel Katz praises the United States for its strikes on bases belonging to the Iran-backed Iraqi Hezbollah militia in Iraq and Syria, calling it “a turning point in the regional reality in light of the conduct of Iran and its metastases.”

“If the Iranians make a mistake in understanding the essence and power of the US, they will suffer blows they have never suffered before,” Katz says in a tweet.

And courtesy of g(r)omgoru:

U.S. officials: strikes on Iraq and Syria 'successful'

[Jpost] - U.S. officials said on Sunday that air strikes in Iraq and Syria against an Iran-backed militia group were successful, but warned that "additional actions" may still be taken in the region to defend U.S. interests.

Oh dear. I should be concerned, were I in any way connected to the Mad Mullahs...

The U.S. military carried out the strikes on Sunday against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said.

Link

Africa North

Security sources confirm clashes in Sabha

2019-11-04

[Libya Observer] Security sources from Sabha have reported skirmishes in the area of Mansheya and an attack on a military checkpoint belonging to so-called battalion 128, loyal to Haftar, near al-Qadisiya Square, on Saturday night.

According to the sources, button men set a military vehicle on fire and attacked members of the battalion, noting that no death casualties were reported.

In the same context, the media office of Sabha Medical Center has denied widespread news on social media platforms saying it had received no casualties related to the incident.

Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, the SWAT team had finally arrived...
local residents said several inmates have managed to escape from a prison guarded by the battalion 128 with the facilitation of unknown button men.

Link

Iraq

Iraqi militiamen foil Islamic State plot to infiltrate into Salahuddin

2019-06-24

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Iraqi Shiite militias announced on Sunday thwarting a plot by Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
bully boyz to sneak into Samarra city in Salahuddin province.

In a statement carried by the privately-owned Baghdad Today news website, the Samarra Operations Command of the Shiite Saraya al-Salam brigades said that it "received intelligence information on a plot by IS holy warriors to infiltrate into al-Adiyat, Zour Albu-Hammoud and Ain al-Helwa cities in Samarra on board a number of boats."

The militiamen, according to the statement, shot up the IS holy warriors and forced them to retreat.

Saraya al-Salam is an Iraqi gang linked to Iraq’s Shia community. It is a 2014 revival of the Mahdi Army that was created by Iraqi Shia holy man

Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
in June 2003 and disbanded in 2008.

The group was re-mobilized in 2014 in order to fight against the Islamic State and it is still active till now.

Link

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