Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq

Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH)
عصائب أهل الحق‎ Participant in Iraq War Iraqi Civil War Syrian Civil War
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq's flag
Active	July 2006 – present
Ideology	Shia Islamism (Wilayat al Faqih)
Leaders	Qais al-Khazali Akram al-Kabi (2007 - 2010)
Headquarters	Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq
Area of operations	Mainly Baghdad and Southern Iraq; also active in Iraq's Central regions and Syria
Strength	10,000
Part of	Popular Mobilization Forces
Originated as	Mahdi Army
Allies	Iraq  Syria  Iran Kata'ib Hezbollah Promised Day Brigades Other Special Groups Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas Hezbollah
Opponents	Iraq War: Multi-National Force – Iraq Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Syrian Civil War: Free Syrian Army Islamic Front al-Nusrah Front Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Battles and wars	Iraq War Karbala provincial headquarters raid Operation Together Forward Siege of Sadr City Siege of U.K. bases in Basra Iraq spring fighting of 2008 Battle of Basra Iraqi Civil War (2014-present) Lifting of the Siege of Amirli Operation Ashura Second Battle of Tikrit Siege of Fallujah Battle of Mosul (2016) Syrian Civil War Battle of Aleppo 3rd Rif Dimashq offensive Damascus offensive 4th Rif Dimashq offensive 5th Rif Dimashq offensive

Iraq War

Iraqi Civil War (2014-present)

Syrian Civil War

Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH; Arabic: عصائب أهل الحق‎‎ ‘Aṣayib Ahl al-Haq, "League of Righteous People"), also known as the Khazali Network, is an Iraqi Shi'a paramilitary group active in the Iraqi insurgency and Syrian Civil War. During the Iraq War it was known as Iraq's largest "Special Group" (the Americans' term for Iran-backed Shia paramilitaries in Iraq), and claimed responsibility for over 6,000 attacks on American and Coalition forces. The group is currently fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as part of the Popular Moblization Forces. The group is funded and trained by Iran's Quds Force.

Qais al-Khazali split from Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army after the Shi'a uprising in 2004 to create his own Khazali network. When the Mahdi Army signed a cease-fire with the government and the Americans and the fighting stopped, Qais al-Khazali's faction continued fighting, and during the battle Khazali was already issuing his own orders to militiamen without Muqtada al-Sadr's approval. The group's leadership (which includes Qais Khazali, Abd al-Hadi al-Darraji (a politician in Muqtada al-Sadr's Sadr Movement) and Akram al-Kaabi), however, reconciled with al-Sadr in mid-2005. In July 2006, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq was founded and became one of the Special Groups which operated more independently from the rest of the Mahdi Army. It became a completely independent organisation after the Mahdi Army's disbanding after the 2008 Shi'a uprising. In November 2008 when Sadr created the Promised Day Brigade to succeed the Mahdi Army, he asked AAH (and other Special Groups) to join, but they declined.