The Badr Organization ( ar, منظمة بدر ''Munaẓẓama Badr''), previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps, is an
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
Islamist political party and military organization headed by
Hadi Al-Amiri. The Badr Brigade was the Iran-officered military wing of the Iran-based Shia Islamic party,
Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), formed in 1982. The Badr Brigade was created by Iranian intelligence and Shia cleric
Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim
Ayatollah al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Muhsin al-Hakim at-Tabataba'i (8 July 1939 – 29 August 2003; ar, السيد محمد باقر محسن الحكيم الطباطبائي), also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab, was a senior Iraqi Shia Islamic S ...
with the aim of fighting Saddam Hussein's regime during the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
. Since the
2003 US-led invasion of Iraq most of Badr's fighters have entered the new Iraqi army and police force. Politically, Badr Brigade and SCIRI were considered to be one party since 2003, but have now unofficially separated with the Badr Organization now an official Iraqi political party. Badr Brigade forces, and their Iranian commanders, have come to prominence in 2014 fighting the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
(ISIL) in Iraq. It is a part of the
Popular Mobilization Forces.
History
SCIRI
The organization was formed in Iran in 1982 as the military wing of the
Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. It was based in Iran for two decades during the rule of
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
and led by Iranian officers. It consisted of several thousand Iraqi exiles, refugees, and defectors who fought alongside Iranian troops in the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
. The group was armed and directed by Iran.
They briefly returned to Iraq in 1991 during the
1991 Iraqi uprising
The 1991 Iraqi uprisings were ethnic and religious uprisings in Iraq led by Shi'ites and Kurds against Saddam Hussein. The uprisings lasted from March to April 1991 after a ceasefire following the end of the Gulf War. The mostly uncoordinate ...
to fight against Saddam Hussein, focusing on the Shia holy cities of
Najaf and
Karbala
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 Governorat ...
. They retreated back into Iran after the uprising was crushed.
In 1995, during the
Kurdish Civil War, Iran deployed 5,000 Badr fighters to Iraqi Kurdistan.
Post-invasion Iraq
Returning to Iraq following the 2003 US-led invasion, the group changed its name from brigade to organization in response to the attempted voluntary disarming of Iraqi militias by the
Coalition Provisional Authority
)
, capital = Baghdad
, largest_city = capital
, common_languages = ArabicKurdishEnglish (''de facto'')
, government_type = Transitional government
, legislature = Iraqi Governing Council
, title_leader = Administrator
, leader1 = Jay ...
. It is however widely believed the organization is still active as a militia within the security forces and it has been accused of running a secret prison and sectarian killings during the
Iraqi Civil War.
Because of their opposition to Saddam Hussein, the Badr Brigade was seen as a U.S. asset in the fight against
Baathist
Ba'athism, also stylized as Baathism, (; ar, البعثية ' , from ' , meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"Hans Wehr''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' (4th ed.), page 80) is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation ...
partisans. After the
fall of Baghdad, Badr forces reportedly joined the newly reconstituted army, police, and Interior Ministry in significant numbers. The Interior Ministry was controlled by SCIRI, and many Badr members became part of the Interior Ministry run
Wolf Brigade. The Iraqi Interior Minister,
Bayan Jabr, was a former leader of Badr Brigade militia.
In 2006 the United Nations human rights chief in Iraq, John Pace, said that hundreds of Iraqis were being tortured to death or executed by the Interior Ministry under SCIRI's control.
[Andrew Buncombe & Patrick Cockburn]
"Iraq's death squads: on the brink of civil war,"
''The Independent'' (Feb. 26, 2006). Retrieved 7 February 2015. According to a 2006 report by the ''Independent'' newspaper:
"Mr Pace said the Ministry of the Interior was 'acting as a rogue element within the government'. It was controlled by the main Shia party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri); the Interior Minister, Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi, is a former leader of SCIRI's Badr Brigade militia, which was one of the main groups accused of carrying out sectarian killings. Another was the Mahdi Army of the young cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is now part of the Shia coalition seeking to form a government after winning the mid-December election.
Many of the 110,000 policemen and police commandos under the ministry's control are suspected of being former members of the Badr Brigade. Not only counterinsurgency units such as the Wolf Brigade, the Scorpions, and the Tigers, but the commandos and even the highway patrol police were accused of acting as death squads during this period over a decade ago.
The paramilitary commandos, dressed in garish camouflage uniforms and driving around in pick-up trucks, were dreaded in Sunni neighbourhoods. People arrested by them during this period were frequently found dead several days later with their bodies bearing obvious marks of torture."
Military action against ISIL
Following
ISIL's successful
Anbar campaign and
June 2014 offensive, the Badr Organization mobilized and won a series of battles against ISIL, including the
Liberation of Jurf Al Sakhr and the
Lifting of the Siege of Amirli.
In early February 2015 the group, operating from its base at
Camp Ashraf, fought in
Diyala Governorate
Diyala Governorate ( ar, محافظة ديالى ) or Diyala Province is a governorate in central-eastern Iraq.
Provincial government
*Governor: Muthana al-Timimi
*Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri
Council
Geography
Diyala Gov ...
against ISIL. Over 100 militia were killed in the fighting, including 25 in
Al Mansouryah. Badr's leader,
Hadi Al-Amiri, said his militiamen were committed to the safety of Sunnis, but deep mutual suspicions remained in the light of recent sectarian killings and the suspicion that some Sunni tribes were allied with IS.
Structure
The Badr Corps consists of infantry, armor, artillery, anti-aircraft, and commando units with an estimated strength of between 10,000 and 50,000 men (according to the Badr Organization).
*Quwat al-Shahid Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr
*Liwa al-Imam Muhammad al-Jawad
*Liwa Karbala
*Tashkil al-Karar
*The Turkmen Brigade Northern Front
*Quwat al-Shaheed al-Qa'id Abu Muntadhar al-Muhammadawi
*Tashkil Malik al-Ashtar
*Fayli Kurd Brigade
– 16 June 2014
**Led by Secretary-General of Supreme National Front for Feyli Kurds, Maher al-Feyli
**Size: 1,000–5,000
**Helped by: Saad al-Madlabi (from
State of Law Coalition
The State of Law Coalition ( ar, إئتلاف دولة القانون ''I'tilāf Dawlat al-Qānūn''), also known as Rule of Law Coalition, is an Iraqi political coalition formed for the 2009 Iraqi governorate elections by the Prime Minister of ...
) and
Mouin AlKazmi
Scientific evaluation
The
German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) recognized a rise in the Shiite Badr organization since 2014 under the leadership of its Secretary General Hadi al-Amiri. In 2017 SWP wrote Badr organization is one of "the most important actors in Iraqi politics". It has become the most important instrument of Iranian politics in Iraq. Its aim is "to exert the greatest possible influence on the central government in Baghdad and at the same time to build the strongest possible Shiite militias that are dependent on Iran". The foundation compared the role of the organization with that of
Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
.
See also
*
Private militias in Iraq
*
List of armed groups in the Iraqi Civil War
*
List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
*
Holy Shrine Defender
Holy Shrine Defenders, known in Persian language, Persian as ''Modāfe'ān-e-Haram'' (مدافعان حرم), is a phrase used by the Iranian government to refer to their advisers and military personnel, whether Iranians or otherwise, fighting in ...
References
External links
* Michele Norris & Ivan Watson
"Profile: Opposition Group Claiming to Represent Iraqi Shias Enters Northern Iraq,"''All Things Considered'' (March 10, 2003), NPR.
*
Counter Extremism Project
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) is a nonprofit organization, non-profit non-governmental organization that combats Extremism, extremist groups "by pressuring financial support networks, countering the narrative of extremists and their online ...
br>
profile
{{Militant Islamism
Popular Mobilization Forces
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Conservative parties in Iraq
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Shia Islamic political parties
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Pro-government factions of the Syrian civil war
Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates
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Axis of Resistance