Jaysh al-Mu'ammal ( ar, جَيْش الْمُؤَمَّل, Jayš al-Muʾammal, lit=The Expected Army), also known as Liwa al-Mu'ammal or as the

Popular Mobilization Forces The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) ( ar, الحشد الشعبي ''al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī''), also known as the People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization ...

' 99th Brigade, is a

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

Islamist Iraqi private militia that is led by Sa'ad Sawar and has fought in the Syrian Civil War and Iraqi Civil War. Founded as a splinter faction of the

Sadrist Movement The Sadrist Movement ( ar, التيار الصدري ') is an Iraqi Islamic national movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr. The movement draws wide support from across Iraqi society and especially from the Shi'a poor in the country. The most important ...

, Jaysh al-Mu'ammal is supported by

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 Turkme ...

and former

Iraqi Prime Minister The prime minister of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, ...

Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki ( ar, نوري المالكي; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party and was the prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and the vice president ...

History

Jaysh al-Mu'ammal reportedly emerged due to disputes among the Iraqi

. After the Syrian Civil War's outbreak,

Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr ( ar, مقتدى الصدر, Muqtadā aṣ-Ṣadr; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi politician and militia leader. He is the leader of the Sadrist Movement and the leader of the Peace Companies, a successor to the militia he had ...

had decided not to aid the Syrian government of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the S ...

, which led to discontent among his followers. One of the leading commanders of the Sadrist Peace Companies, Sa'ad Sawar, openly broke with Muqtada al-Sadr and travelled to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, where he joined another Iraqi militia,

Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalib fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham The Conquering Lion of God Forces of Iraq and the Levant ( ar, قوات اسد الله الغالب في العراق والشام, ''Quwwat Assad Allah al-Ghalib fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham''), more commonly known by its original name ( ar, لواء ...

, to fight against the Syrian insurgents. As time went on, disputes over the leadership and course of the Sadrist Movement continued, with a number of factions breaking off. After returning to Iraq, Sa'ad Sawar consequently managed to rally a substantial number of dissatisfied Sadrists to his cause, and announced the foundation of "Jaysh al-Mu'ammal" in June 2016. The new group reportedly received substantial aid from

, the former

Prime Minister of Iraq The prime minister of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, a ...

and a rival to Muqtada al-Sadr, who provided Jaysh al-Mu'ammal with 3 million

United States dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

in cash, weapons worth $1,5 million, and the support from a number of tribal sheikhs in central and southern Iraq. Sa'ad Sawar also received support from

and other splinter faction of the Sadrist Movements as well, such as

Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH; ar, عصائب أهل الحق Aṣaʾib ʾAhl al-Haqq, "League of the Righteous"), also known as the Khazali Network ( ar, شبكة الخزعلي), is a radical Iraqi Shi'a political party and paramilitary group activ ...

. Since then, Jaysh al-Mu'ammal has been operating in Syria and Iraq, where it has joined the

as "99th Brigade". By mid-2018, Jaysh al-Mu'ammal was involved in anti-

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...

operations in

Saladin Governorate The Saladin or Salah Al-Din Governorate ( ar, محافظة صلاح الدين) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with t ...

Organization and ideology

Led by Sa'ad Sawar, Jaysh al-Mu'ammal is headquartered in

Sadr City Sadr City ( ar, مدينة الصدر, translit=Madīnat aṣ-Ṣadr), formerly known as Al-Thawra ( ar, الثورة, aṯ-Ṯawra) and Saddam City ( ar, مدينة صدام, Madīnat Ṣaddām), is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, where it also recruits most of its forces. A number of pro-Nouri al-Maliki elements in central and southern Iraq have also joined the group or at least provide support. Unlike Muqtada al-Sadr, who is focused on Iraq, Sa'ad Sawar has emphasized his readiness to provide military support to Shia groups outside of his home country. His group consequently operates in both Iraq as well as Syria, and has also declared its willingness to support the

Houthis The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...

in the Yemeni Civil War, and to fight with the

Bahraini opposition The Bahraini opposition refers to a group of political groups who are opposed to the Cabinet of Bahrain government and the ruling monarch of the Sunni House of Khalifa. Currently, the Bahraini opposition can be divided into the officially registere ...

against the

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

House of Khalifa The House of Khalifa ( ar, آل خليفة, translit=Āl Khalīfah) is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Al Khalifas profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe, some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which m ...

References

Bibliography

* {{Militant Islamism Anti-ISIL factions in Iraq Anti-ISIL factions in Syria Pro-government factions of the Syrian civil war Shia Islamist groups Shia organizations Syrian Shia organizations 2016 establishments in Iraq Paramilitary forces of Iraq Popular Mobilization Forces Jihadist groups in Iraq Jihadist groups in Syria Arab militant groups Axis of Resistance

History

Organization and ideology

See also

References

Bibliography