Salafi Jihadist Insurgents Islamic State Iraq (Pro-Coalition Forces, 2003–2008) Multi-National Force (2003–2008) Islamic Army in Iraq Al-Qaeda in Iraq[6] Mujahideen Shura Council[7]
Battles and wars
Iraq War
Operation Ancient Babylon
Siege of Sadr City
Battle of Al Kut
Battle of Najaf (2004)
Battle of Diwaniya
Battle of Amarah
Battle of Karbala (2007)
Siege of U.K. bases in Basra
Battle of Basra (2008)
Iraq spring fighting of 2008
Succeeded by Promised Day Brigade
The Mahdi Army (Arabic: جيش المهدي) was an Iraqi Shia militia created by Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003 and disbanded in 2008.[8]
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.[citation needed] 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.[9][10]
The group was armed with various light weapons, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs). 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.[11]
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.
^"Mapping Militants: Mahdi Army". cisac.fsi.stanford.edu. Stanford University. May 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
^"Mapping Militants: Mahdi Army". cisac.fsi.stanford.edu. Stanford University. May 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
^Steele, Jonathan. "40 die in Baghdad massacre as Shia militia go on rampage". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
^Dralonge, Richard (2008). Economics and Geopolitics of the Middle East. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. p. 61. ISBN 9781604560763.
^"اسرار من معركة الفلوجة عام 2004 كيف تعاون مقتدى الصدر مع البعثيين والتكفيريين وقاتل الى جانبهم". 23 May 2008.
^"Mahdi Army | Mapping Militant Organizations".
^"Mahdi Army | Mapping Militant Organizations".
^"The immutable Muqtada al-Sadr loses a battle against Iran". atlanticcouncil.org. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
^"Iraq's death squads: On the brink of civil war". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
^"Al-Sadr's Weakening Grip on the Mahdi Army". Terrorism Monitor. The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 October 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
^Harkin, Greg; Elliott, Francis; Whitaker, Raymond (16 October 2005). "Revealed: IRA bombs killed eight British soldiers in Iraq". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 9 July 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
The MahdiArmy (Arabic: جيش المهدي) was an Iraqi Shia militia created by Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003 and disbanded in 2008. The MahdiArmy rose to international...
Iraq spring fighting was a series of clashes between the MahdiArmy and allies and the Iraqi Army supported by coalition forces, in southern Iraq and parts...
religiously based (Shi'a and Sunni) militant Iraqi groups, such as the Shi'a MahdiArmy. The first months of 2004 was marked by a relative lull in violence. Guerrilla...
The Mahdi (Arabic: ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, romanized: al-Mahdī, lit. 'the Guided') is a prominent figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the...
Colonel Robert B. Abrams.[citation needed] On April 4, 2004 the MahdiArmy ambushed a U.S. Army patrol in Sadr City, killing eight American soldiers, and wounding...
forces in an attempt to destroy the main power base of the insurgent MahdiArmy in Baghdad. The siege began on 4 April 2004 – later dubbed "Black Sunday"...
Sudanese religious and political leader. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi, and led a war against Ottoman-Egyptian rule in Sudan which culminated in...
In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is a Messianic figure who, it is believed, will appear on Earth before the Day of Judgment, and will rid the world of...
based on the ideology of the Iraqi Shia militia Sarāyā al-Salām (former MahdiArmy). The group threatens Iraqis in Europe who live a secular or Western lifestyle...
is also the stronghold of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, the MahdiArmy. He has gained a reputation for his command of Shiite death squads and...
groups in Iraq). The group was created as successor to Muqtada al-Sadr's MahdiArmy, which was Iraq's largest Shiite militant group until its disbanding in...
Iraqi cleric and MahdiArmy founder Muqtada al-Sadr announced his intention to form chapters of Hezbollah and Hamas in Iraq, and Mahdi senior member Abu...
groups that fight on behalf of or as part of the Iraqi government, the MahdiArmy and Badr Organization being two of the biggest. Many predate the overthrow...
2004, between British soldiers and about 100 Iraqi insurgents of the MahdiArmy. The battle is named after a local British checkpoint called Danny Boy...
appearance of the Mahdi are the collection of events, according to Islamic eschatology, that will occur before the arrival of the Mahdi, The signs differ...
insurgents. The fighters consisted of both Sunnis and Shi'as; Soldiers of the Mahdiarmy fought alongside Sunni and Ba'athist groups against the United States...
the MahdiArmy for the killing. After the brother of Sheikh Fadel al-Bahadli, the MahdiArmy commander in the province, was captured, the MahdiArmy captured...
2004, between British soldiers and about 100 Iraqi insurgents of the MahdiArmy. The insurgents ambushed a patrol of Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders...
from one or more of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Badr Organization, and the MahdiArmy. Convoy commander Lieutenant Matthew Brown was wounded in the head and...
where the Iraqi Army did not have direct combat support from conventional coalition ground troops. The offensive was opposed by the MahdiArmy, one of the...
on the Iraqi Governing Council, he had created a militia known as the MahdiArmy, whose mission he said was to help keep order and cleanse Iraq of "evil...
Global Information
Salafi Jihadist Insurgents
Islamic State
Iraq (Pro-Coalition Forces, 2003–2008)
Multi-National Force (2003–2008)
Islamic Army in Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq[6]
