Special Group (Iraq)
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Special Group (Iraq)
Special Groups (SGs) is a designation given by the United States military to the cell-based Shi'a paramilitary organizations operating within Iraq, backed by Iran. According to the United States these groups are funded, trained, and armed by the Iranian Quds Force, part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to the United States Department of Defense, 603 American troops in total were confirmed to have been killed by IRGC-backed Shia militias (Special Groups) during the Iraq War. According to American General Kevin J. Bergner, the Special Groups receive between 750,000 and 3,000,000 dollars funding per month from the Quds Force. These groups are separate from but allied with the Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr. The distinction between these groups and the Mahdi Army became more clear when al-Sadr called for a ceasefire at the end of August 2007 following Mahdi Army clashes with Iraqi Security Forces in Karbala but the Special Groups continued fighting. ...
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Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image = Iraq War montage.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: US troops at Uday Hussein, Uday and Qusay Hussein's hideout; insurgents in northern Iraq; the Firdos Square statue destruction, toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square , date = {{ubl, {{Start and end dates, 2003, 3, 20, 2011, 12, 18, df=yes({{Age in years, months and days, 2003, 03, 19, 2011, 12, 18) , place = Iraq , result = * 2003 invasion of Iraq, Invasion and History of Iraq (2003–11), occupation of Iraq * Overthrow of Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, Ba'ath Party government * Execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006 * Re ...
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Promised Day Brigades
The Promised Day Brigade (abbreviated PDB; ar, لواء اليوم الموعود, Liwāʾ al-Yawm al-Mawʿūd), originally called the Muqawimun ( ar, المقاومون, al-Muqāwimūn, "Resisters"), was a Shi'a organization and was an insurgent group operating in Iraq during the war. In 2010, it was one of the largest and most powerful of what the US military call "Special Groups" in Iraq. The group was created as successor to Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, which was Iraq's largest Shi'a militia until its disbanding in 2008, he also called on other Special Groups to join the brigade. Sadr had earlier already talked about the creation of a smaller guerrilla unit which would continue the Mahdi Army's armed activities but for the first time gave the organisation a name in November 2008 when he declared the creation of the Promised Day Brigade. Its activities have particularly increased since May 2009. The group's name is in reference to an alternate term for the Islamic Day of Ju ...
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Iraq Spring Fighting Of 2008
The 2008 Iraq spring fighting was a series of clashes between the Mahdi Army and allies and the Iraqi Army supported by coalition forces, in southern Iraq and parts of Baghdad, that began with an Iraqi offensive in Basra. Background In 2007, the Iraqi Army moved 4 brigades, including a tank brigade, and a special forces battalion to Basra, replacing the existing brigade stationed there which was reported to have been corrupt. The Iraqi National Police also moved two battalions to Basra. In August 2007, the Iraqi Army established the Basra Operational Command under the command of General Mohan. The Vice Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Joint Staff said "We do not have enough forces there. That is why we are having a new division, the 14th Division, to be built in Basrah, especially with the possibility that the British might be leaving us in time." Since August 2007, a unilateral ceasefire was in place, imposed by Muqtada al-Sadr on his militia, the Mahdi Army. However raids were ...
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Karbala, Iraq
Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an estimated population of 1,218,732 people (2018). The city, best known as the location of the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD, or for the shrines of Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali,Shimoni & Levine, 1974, p. 160.Aghaie, 2004, pp. 10–11. is considered a holy city for Shia Muslims, in the same way as Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Tens of millions of Shi'ite Muslims visit the site twice a year, rivaling Mecca and Mashhad by the number of pilgrims annually. The martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali is commemorated annually by millions of Shi'ites. Up to 8 million pilgrims visit the city to observe '' ʿĀshūrāʾ'' (the tenth day of the month of Muharram), which marks the anniversary of Husayn's death, but the main event is the '' ...
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Battle Of Karbala (2007)
The Battle of Karbala began on the night of 27 August 2007 and involved fighting between the Mahdi Army, who provided security for the pilgrims, and police (who were largely members of the Badr Organization) in Karbala, Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Shia pilgrims gathered in the city for the annual festival of Mid-Sha'ban. Security was high as pilgrims had been killed in previous years by suicide bombers. Summary The Battle of Karbala in August 2007 was a major clash between the Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen in the city of Karbala, Iraq. The battle took place during the height of the sectarian violence that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was sparked by the decision of the Iraqi government to launch a crackdown on Shiite militias in the city, which had been accused of engaging in kidnappings, assassinations, and other violent acts. The militias, led by the Mahdi Army of the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, resisted the government's effor ...
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United States Department Of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. The DoD is the largest employer in the world, with over 1.34 million active-duty service members (soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians) as of June 2022. The DoD also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.87 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the DoD's stated mission is to provide "the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security". The Department of Defense is headed by the secretary of defense, a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the president of the United States. Beneath the Department of Defense are th ...
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Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, founded after the Iranian Revolution on 22 April 1979 by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.IISS Military Balance 2006, Routledge for the IISS, London, 2006, p. 187 Whereas the Iranian Army defends Iranian borders and maintains internal order, according to the Iranian constitution, the Revolutionary Guard is intended to protect the country's Islamic republic political system, which supporters believe includes preventing foreign interference and coups by the military or "deviant movements". The IRGC is designated as a terrorist organization by the governments of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United States. As of 2011, the Revolutionary Guards had at least 250,000 military personnel including ground, aerosp ...
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Quds Force
The Quds Force ( fa, نیروی قدس, niru-ye qods, Jerusalem Force) is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States. Responsible for extraterritorial operations, the Quds Force supports non-state actors in many countries, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemeni Houthis, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. The Quds Force reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei.Dionisi, 7 After Qassem Soleimani was killed, his deputy, Esmail Ghaani, replaced him. The U.S. Secretary of State designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Quds Force as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in 2019 based on the IRGC's "continued ...
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Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of , making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has a population of 86 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz. The country is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great fo ...
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United States Military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States. From their inception during the American Revolutionary War, the U.S. Armed Forces have played a decisive role in the history of the United States. They helped forge a sense of national unity and identity through victories in the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War. They played a critical role in the American Civil War, keeping the Confederacy from seceding from the republic and preserving the unio ...
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Sectarian Violence In Iraq (2006–2008)
Sectarian violence in Iraq refers to the violence that developed as a result of rising sectarian tensions between the different religious and ethnic groups of Iraq, most notably the conflict between the Shi'i Muslim majority and the Sunni Muslim minority within the country. With the creation of a modern nation-state, sectarian tensions arose slowly and eventually developed into recent violent conflicts such as the War in Iraq (2013–2017) and the Iraqi Civil War (2006–2008). According to most sources, including the CIA's ''World Factbook'', the majority of Iraqis are Shi'i Arab Muslims amounting to around 64% to 69% of the population, whereas Sunni Muslims represent between 32% and 37% of the population. Furthermore, the Sunnis are split ethnically among Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. Historical background Before the creation of the Iraqi state, Iraq's territory belonged to the Ottoman Empire and was divided up into three vilayets (provinces): Baghdad Vilayet (1869 - 1918), Bas ...
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