OVERVIEW

‘Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq flag

‘Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq (AAH) is an Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militia that encourages and conducts attacks against the US diplomatic and military presence in Iraq as it seeks to compel US forces to withdraw completely. AAH formed in 2006 after breaking away from Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Jaysh al-Mahdi militia to align with Iran and target US and allied forces more aggressively. Since that time, AAH has conducted thousands of attacks against US and allied interests, including killing five US soldiers during an attempted kidnapping operation at a government building in Karbala in southern Iraq in January 2007.

Since 2011, AAH has tried to rebrand itself as an Iraqi nationalist political organization, but it largely continues to promote Iranian interests. AAH staffs the Popular Mobilization Committee—a component of Iraq’s security forces—in the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd Brigades. AAH’s official status provides some members government salaries and access to state resources. The group also attempts to influence state matters through its media outlets and political party, Sadiqun.

OPERATING AREAS
Based primarily in Iraq; conducts operations in Iraq and Syria

MEMBERS
Approximately 10,000

TACTICS AND TARGETS
AAH has conducted explosively formed penetrator, IED, mortar, rocket, and kidnapping operations against US and allied forces and Iraqi political rivals. The group has also assassinated Iraqi political opponents, killed civilian protesters, and used mass gatherings to protest domestic and international political decisions. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force and Lebanese Hizballah help fund, train, and equip AAH.

FOREIGN TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US State Department designated AAH as a foreign terrorist organization in January 2020. The US Treasury Department designated AAH leaders and brothers Qays and Laith al-Khaz’ali as specially designated global terrorists in December 2019.

KEY LEADERS

NOTABLE ATTACKS