Jaysh al-Mu'ammal (), also known as Liwa al-Mu'ammal or as the

Popular Mobilization Forces The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF; ), also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iranian-backed paramilitary umbrella group that operates within Iraq. Although formally and legally part of the Iraqi Armed Forces and reportin ...

' 99th Brigade, is a

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

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 ( ') is an Iraqi Shi'a Islamic national movement and political party, led by Muqtada al-Sadr. The Sadrist Movement ended as largest political party in the October 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election, with 73 seats in Parliamen ...

, Jaysh al-Mu'ammal is supported by

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and former Iraqi Prime Minister

Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as 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 (; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He inherited the leadership of the Sadrist Movement from his father, and founded the now dissolved Mahdi Army militia in 2003 that resisted ...

had decided not to aid the Syrian government of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

, 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 Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, where he joined another Iraqi militia, Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalib fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, 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 the Republic of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq and the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minist ...

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

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

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. 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 The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) 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 ac ...

operations in

Saladin Governorate The Saladin, Salah ad Din, or Salah Al-Din Governorate (, ) 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 the capital being T ...

Organization and ideology

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

Sadr City Sadr City (), formerly known as Al-Thawra () and Saddam City (), is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It was built in 1959 by Prime Minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim, Abdul Karim Qassim and named Al-Rafidain Distric ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, 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 Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydism, Zaydi Shia Islamism, Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadersh ...

in the Yemeni Civil War, and to fight with the Bahraini opposition against the

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

House of Khalifa The House of Khalifa () is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. They profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe. Some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which migrated from Najd in central Arabia to Kuwait, then ru ...

References

Bibliography

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

History

Organization and ideology

See also

References

Bibliography