This report explores the evolution in militia activity from 2019 to 2023 by interpreting these shifts as strategies to maximize pressure on foreign forces, avoid retaliation, and gain popular domestic consensus. has shifted between these three primary targets in response to a number of domestic and international drivers: US-Iran tensions intra-militia competition opposition to foreign military forces inside Iraq and domestic political developments. Other notable Shiite militias that meet most of this criteria exist, like Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada and the Peace Companies, but they are not under the purview of this report as they are rarely, if ever, implicated in these types of attacks in the post-2020 period. These three militias are well-established, Iran-backed, part of the PMF, generally participate in the Iraqi political process, and are most commonly associated with militancy against foreign forces and un-Islamic influences in the country. The activity of Iran-backed militias 2 ‘Shiite militias’ is specifically referring to KH, AAH, HHN, and their facades. These attacks are carried out using drones, rockets, and IEDs and have three primary targets with a distinct geographical distribution: 1) convoys carrying materiel for US personnel and forces affiliated with the Global Coalition Against Daesh and bases hosting them, mostly clustered in central and southern Iraq 2) Turkish bases, in northern Iraq and 3) purported ‘un-Islamic’ activities, largely around Baghdad ( see map below ). ACLED records over 500 events involving these militias or one of their facade groups between June 2019 and March 2023. Since mid-2019 – and increasingly after US forces assassinated Iranian general Qassim Soleimani and PMF Deputy Chairman Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January 2020 – Iran-backed militias have engaged in military operations targeted at foreign and domestic objectives inside Iraq. These groups are notable for portraying themselves as the Muqawama, or the ‘resistance’ against the United States and other foreign forces. Such facade groups are generally assumed to operate on behalf of KH, AAH, and HHN ( see graph below ). 1 International Crisis Group, ‘Iraq’s Paramilitary Groups: The Challenge of Rebuilding a Functioning State,’ 30 July 2018 These Iran-backed groups include prominent militias such as Kataib Hizbullah (KH), Asaib Ahl al-Haqq (AAH), and Haraka Hizbullah al-Nujaba (HHN), as well as a number of recently formed ‘facade groups’ like Ashab al-Kahf and Qasim al-Jabarin. Many of these actors are integrated into the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) – a paramilitary group established in 2014 to counter the Islamic State and later incorporated into the Iraqi state forces – and have strong relations with the Iranian regime and its security apparatus. Sooner or later you will want to find a tribe to join, so you can band together to support each other in times of need.Īfter you've built up your village and made it as strong as possible, the time has come to conquer other villages and expand your empire.The post-2003 security landscape in Iraq has seen the proliferation of dozens of militias identifying with Shiite Islam. You'll need to utilize the troops you recruit to outgrow your enemies by looting and attacking their villages. ![]() ![]() All around you other players have the same goal: to grow and rule over the largest empire. However, your village is not the only one that is out there. Under your leadership, the village may grow and prosper. Each player controls a small village that can be expanded to a powerful castle. Tribal Wars 2 is an online game set in medieval times.
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