Learn about Iraqi Najbaa movement after classifying it as terrorist group
Thursday 07/March/2019 - 01:32 PM
Ali Rajab
The United States has imposed sanctions on the so-called "Islamic
Resistance - the Najbaa Hezbollah", one of Iraq's most prominent
pro-Iranian militias, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday.
The measure, according to the Treasury Department statement, aims to prevent
resources used by the group and its leader in planning and carrying out
terrorist attacks.
The resolution also includes freezing all property and interests of the
movement and banning Americans from engaging in any dealings with them.
In September 2017, Senators David Bradio, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio introduced
the "Terrorist Sanctions Act, Iran's Agents," which targets the
movement and another group.
A bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives
also introduced similar legislation in January.
Last September, US senators introduced a law aimed at Iran and its support
groups in the region, while a bipartisan group, both Republican and Democratic
in the House of Representatives, introduced similar legislation in January
2019.
Who is the stupid movement?
Al Najbaa movement is an unknown Iraqi Shiite militia, supported and sponsored
by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which is part of the Iraqi popular crowd.
The movement was founded in 2013 by Akram al-Kaabi, former leader of the Mahdi
Army, of the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr, and also the
movement of Asaib Ahl al-Haq led by “Qais al-Khazali”.
The Mahdi militia has several alleged targets, most notably the prelude to the
establishment of the state of divine justice led by Imam Mahdi, the fight
against global arrogance at all levels, the support of the oppressed and the
demand for human rights.
Al-Kaabi was born in 1977 and is considered one of the disciples of Imam
al-Sadr II. He served as imam in Musayyib and was entrusted with the leadership
of the Mehdi Army in the second battle of Najaf in 2004. After that he
underwent courses in military sciences and strategic administration in Iran,
and became Secretary-General after the British arrested the Secretary General
of the organization Qais al-Khazali, but suddenly left Al-Kaabi military work
and devoted to the religious sciences in Iran; to return to the scene of the
beginning of the Syrian war.
Military formation
The movement includes about 10,000 fighters, active in Iraq and Syria, and
funded by Iran and consists of three combat brigades, namely: "Ammar bin
Yasser Brigade, the brigade of Imam Hassan al-Mujtaba and the brigade of
el-Hamd."
Al-Najbaa movement exists in a number of Iraqi cities, including Al-Muthanna,
Kirkuk, Diyala and Salah al-Din, especially in Dujail, and there are few in
Tikrit. Some of them are also based in Syria.
In the footsteps of Iran
Al-Najbaa, one of the military branches of the Revolutionary Guards in Iraq and
Syria, is also ready to fight in Yemen.
"We do not hide Iran's technical and logistical support for us, at all
levels in terms of training and arming, and to provide advice through the
presence of field commanders and advisers from the brothers in the Quds
Force," al-Kaabi said.
With the outbreak of the Syrian armed conflict, al-Kaabi, the founder of
Al-Nuba'a, was tasked with forming a fighting faction in Syria. He founded
Ammar bin Yasser Brigade in early 2013 and moved to Syria to supervise the
field and lead the operations himself.
The Reuters news agency said in 2017 that the movement has helped Teheran to
find a way to supply Damascus through Iraq.
In this context, we can understand the mandate of al-Najbaa to secure large
areas of the Iraqi-Syrian border, from which they have been expelled. This
makes the region practically an open Iranian sphere of influence that not only
reaches Iraq in Damascus but extends to the two countries in Tehran and Beirut.
Al-Kaabi also expressed his readiness to intervene in the Yemeni conflict. He
said: "The movement is ready to support the Houthis with fighters and
weapons."
