Mahdi Army
The Mahdi Army was a Shiite militia founded by Muqtada al-Sadr in 2003 following the American invasion of Iraq. Its stated purpose was to resist the American occupation, protect Shiite areas, holy shrines, including the Imam Ali Shrine, and provide security and services. The Army became known for its fierce battles against coalition forces, most notably in Najaf, Sadr City, Basra, and Dhi Qar in 2004.
The Mahdi Army rose to international prominence on April 4, 2004, when it spearheaded the first major armed confrontation against the US forces in Iraq from the Shia community. This concerned an uprising that followed the ban of al-Sadr's newspaper and his subsequent attempted arrest, lasting until a truce on June 6. The truce was followed by moves to disband the group and transform al-Sadr's movement into a political party to take part in the 2005 elections; Muqtada al-Sadr ordered fighters of the Mahdi Army to cease fire unless attacked first. The truce broke down in August 2004 after provocative actions by the Mahdi Army, with new hostilities erupting. The group was disbanded in 2008, following a crackdown by Iraqi security forces.
At its height, the Mahdi Army's popularity was strong enough to influence local government, the police, and cooperation with Sunni Iraqis and their supporters. The group was popular among Iraqi Police forces. The National Independent Cadres and Elites party that ran in the 2005 Iraqi election was closely linked with the Army. The Mahdi Army was accused of operating death squads.
The group was armed with various light weapons, including improvised explosive devices. Many of the IEDs used during attacks on Iraqi security forces and Coalition forces used infrared sensors as triggers, a technique that was used widely by the IRA in Northern Ireland in the early-to-mid-1990s during the Troubles.
The group was semi-revived in 2014 as Saraya al-Salam in order to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and was still active as of 2016. It participated in the recapture of Jurf Al Nasr and the Second Battle of Tikrit.
Nomenclature
In the Twelver school of Shia Islam, the Mahdī is believed to have been a historical figure identified with the Twelfth Imam, Hujjat Allah al-Mahdi, and is therefore called al-Imām al-Mahdī. It is believed that he is still present on earth in occultation, and will emerge again in the end times. Those Shias of this school believe that Imam Mahdi is the rightful ruler of the Islamic community at any given time, and he is therefore also called Imām al-Zamān, meaning "Imam of the Era".History
Early history
Created by Muqtada al-Sadr and a small fraction of Shias, the Mahdi Army began as a group of roughly 500 seminary students connected with Muqtada al-Sadr in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, formerly known as Saddam City. The group moved in to fill the security vacuum in Sadr City and in a string of southern Iraqi cities following the fall of Baghdad to U.S.-led coalition forces on April 9, 2003. The group was involved in dispensing aid to Iraqis and provided security in the Shi'ite slums from looters.Gradually, the militia grew and al-Sadr formalized it in June 2003. The Mahdi Army grew into a sizable force of up to 10,000 who even operated what amounted to a shadow government in some areas. Al-Sadr's preaching is critical of the American occupation, but he did not initially join the Sunni Islamist and Ba'athist guerrillas in their attacks on coalition forces. Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani played a significant role in the establishment of Mahdi Army as soon as the Iraq War broke out in 2003.
2004 Shia uprising
Uprising begins
Sadr's position changed dramatically, however, by the beginning of April 2004. Following the closure of the Sadr-owned newspaper al-Hawza and the arrest of one of his senior aides, Sadr gave an unusually heated sermon to his followers on April 2. The next day, violent protests occurred throughout the Shi'ite south that soon spilt over into a violent uprising by Mahdi Army militiamen, fully underway by April 4.April hostilities
The Mahdi Army forces began an offensive in Najaf, Kufa, Kut, and Sadr City, seizing control of public buildings and police stations while clashing with coalition forces. The militants gained partial control of Karbala after fighting there. Other coalition forces came under attack in Nasiriyah, Amarah and Basra. Najaf and Kufa were quickly seized after a few firefights with Spanish troops, and Kut has seized after clashes with Ukrainian troops soon afterwards.After sporadic clashes, coalition forces temporarily suppressed most militia activity in Nasiriyah, Amarah, and Basra. Mahdi rebels expelled Iraqi police from three police stations and ambushed U.S. forces in Sadr City, killing seven U.S. troops and wounding several more. U.S. forces subsequently regained control of the police stations after running firefights with the fighters, killing dozens of Mahdi militiamen. However, Mahdi Army members still maintained some influence over many of the slum areas of Sadr City.
On April 16, Kut was retaken by US forces, and several dozen Mahdi Army members were killed in the battle. However, the area around Najaf and Kufa along with Karbala remained under the control of Sadr's forces. Sadr himself was believed to be in Najaf. Coalition troops cordoned off Najaf with 2,500 troops but reduced the number of forces to pursue negotiations with the Mahdi Army. At the beginning of May, coalition forces estimated that there were 200–500 militants still present in Karbala, 300–400 in Diwaniyah, an unknown number still left in Amarah and Basra, and 1,000–2,000 still in the Najaf-Kufa region.
On May 4, coalition forces began a counter-offensive to eliminate the Mahdi Army in southern Iraq following a breakdown in negotiations. The first wave began with simultaneous raids in Karbala and Diwaniyah on militia forces, followed by a second wave on May 5 in Karbala and more attacks that seized the governor's office in Najaf on May 6. 86 militiamen were estimated killed in the fighting along with 4 U.S. soldiers. Several high-ranking militia commanders were also killed in a separate raid by US Special Operations units. On May 8, U.S. forces launched a follow-up offensive into Karbala, launching a two-pronged attack into the city. U.S. tanks also launched an incursion into Sadr City. At the same time, perhaps as a diversionary tactic, hundreds of Mahdi Army members swept through Basra, firing on British patrols and seizing parts of the city. Two militants were killed and several British troops were wounded.
On May 24, after suffering heavy losses in weeks of fighting, Mahdi Army forces withdrew from the city of Karbala. This left the only area still under their firm control being the Najaf-Kufa region, also under sustained American assault. Several hundred Mahdi Army militia in total were killed. Unfazed by the fighting, Muqtada al-Sadr regularly gave Friday sermons in Kufa throughout the uprising.
June truce
On June 6, 2004, Muqtada al-Sadr issued an announcement directing the Mahdi Army to cease operations in Najaf and Kufa. Remnants of the militia soon ceased bearing arms and halted the attacks on U.S. forces. Gradually, militiamen left the area or went back to their homes. On the same day, Brigadier General Mark Hertling, a top US commander in charge of Najaf, Iraq, stated "The Muqtada militia is militarily defeated. We have killed scores of them over the last few weeks, and that is in Najaf alone. The militia have been defeated, or have left." June 6 effectively marked the end of Shi'ite uprising. The total number of Mahdi Army militiamen killed in the fighting across Iraq is estimated at between 1,500 and 2,000.The return of Najaf to Iraqi security forces following the cease-fire left Sadr City as the last bastion of Mahdi Army guerrillas still pursuing violent resistance. Clashes continued periodically in the district following the end of the Najaf-Kufa battles. On June 24, Mahdi Army declared an end to operations in Sadr City as well, effectively ending militia activity, at least for the time being.
After the June 4 truce with the occupation forces, al-Sadr took steps to disband the Mahdi Army. In a statement, he called on militia members from outside Najaf to "do their duty" and go home. US forces in Najaf were then replaced by Iraqi police. Al-Sadr told supporters not to attack Iraqi security forces and announced his intention to form a party and enter the 2005 elections. He said the interim government was an opportunity to build a unified Iraq. Interim President Ghazi Yawer gave assurances that al-Sadr could join the political process provided he abandoned his militia. Iraqi officials also assured al-Sadr that he was not to face arrest.
August hostilities
After Sadr's militia besieged a police station in Najaf and the local governor called for assistance, the US military intervened again. US troops arrested Sadr's representative in Karbala, Sheikh Mithal al Hasnawi on July 31 and surrounded al-Sadr's home on August 3. British troops in Basra also moved against al-Sadr followers, arresting four on August 3. After the expiration of a noon deadline to release them on August 5, the Basra militiamen declared holy war on British forces.On August 5, via his spokesman Ahmed al-Shaibany, al-Sadr re-affirmed his commitment to the truce and called on US forces to honour the truce. He announced that if the restoration of the cease-fire failed "then the firing and igniting of the revolution will continue". The offer was rejected by the governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zurufi and US officials.
In the days that followed fighting continued around the old city of Najaf, in particular at the Imam Ali shrine and the cemetery. The Mahdi Army, estimated at 2,000 in Najaf, was outnumbered by some 2,000 US troops and 1,800 Iraqi security forces, and at a disadvantage due to the vastly superior American tactics, training, firepower and airpower, such as helicopters and AC-130 gunships. On August 13, the militia was trapped in a cordon around the Imam Ali shrine. While negotiations continued between the interim government and the Mahdi Army, news came that al-Sadr had been wounded.
On August 12, British journalist James Brandon, a reporter for the Sunday Telegraph was kidnapped in Basra by unidentified militants. A videotape was released, featuring Brandon and a hooded militant, threatening to kill the British hostage unless US forces withdrew from Najaf within 24 hours. In a feature, Brandon describes being beaten, pistol-whipped, and forced to participate in mock executions. He said he escaped after holding a woman at knife-point, to a government building where guards found him, but they phoned his kidnappers, who arrived to collect him. Despite telling them repeatedly that he was a journalist, they assumed he was a spy or agent for the occupation until they saw a report about the kidnap on al-Arabiya television. Afterwards, Brandon's treatment improved markedly and he was released after less than a day, following intervention by al-Sadr. At a press conference, Brandon commented on his treatment and thanked his kidnappers: "Initially I was treated roughly, but once they knew I was a journalist I was treated very well and I want to say thank you to the people who kidnapped me." A spokesman for al-Sadr said: "We apologise for what happened to you. This is not our tradition, not our rules. It is not the tradition of Islam." Brandon was delivered to the British military police who gave him medical treatment and escorted him to Kuwait the following day. Brandon planned to see his family and go on holiday but said he wanted to return to Iraq : "Only next time, I just want to do the reporting. I have no desire to be the story again."
The fact that American troops surrounded the Shrine led to an impasse as the Mahdi army could not leave the shrine and US troops did not want to offend Islam by setting foot inside the shrine. The standoff did not end for three weeks until Sistani emerged from convalescence in London and brokered an agreement between the two forces.