Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
Jamal Ja'far Muhammad Ali Al Ibrahim (Arabic: جمال جعفر محمد علي آل إبراهيم Jamāl Jaʿfar Muḥammad ʿAlīy ʾĀl ʾIbrāhīm, 16 November 1954 – 3 January 2020), known by the kunya Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (Arabic: أبو مهدي المهندس, lit. 'Father of Mahdi, the Engineer') was an Iraqi commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). At the time of his death, he was deputy chief of the PMF and regarded as one of Iraq's most powerful men.[1]
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
Ahmad al-Hamidawi
3 January 2020 (aged 65)
Baghdad Airport Road,
Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad Governorate, Iraq
Islamic Dawa Party (1977–2020)
Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (1985–2020)
1979–2020
Commander
Kata'ib Hezbollah
Badr Brigade (formerly)
From 1977, he was an opponent of Saddam Hussein. He became the commander of volunteer militias that grew from the need to combat ISIS, including the Kata'ib Hezbollah militia group,[2][3] which is designated a terror organisation by the governments of Japan, the US and the UAE;[4] and prior to that worked with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against Saddam's regime.[5] Muhandis was on the United States list of designated terrorists.[6]
Allegations of terrorism have been levelled against him over his activities in Kuwait in the 1980s.[7][8] He was sentenced to death in absentia in 2007[9] by a court in Kuwait for his involvement in the 1983 Kuwait bombings.[10][6][11] However, this has been disputed due to his role in combating the Ba’ath Party regime rather than supporting it (via attacking Kuwait). The charges were dropped when the new Iraqi government was formed in 2004. The organisations he oversaw, such as the Popular Mobilization Forces have been reported to have close links to the IRGC's Quds Force.
He was tracked down and killed by a targeted U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on 3 January 2020, which also killed the head of Iran's expeditionary Quds Force Qasem Soleimani.[12]
Early life and education[edit]
His birth name was Jamal Ja'far Muhammad Ali Al Ibrahim. He was born on 16 November 1954 in Abu Al-Khaseeb District, Basra Governorate, Iraq,[13] to an Iraqi father and an Iranian mother.[8] He finished his studies in engineering in 1977 and in the same year joined the Shia-based Dawa Party, which opposed the Ba'athist government.[10]
Sanctions[edit]
In 2009, al-Muhandis was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury for allegedly helping the IRGC.[23] Muhandis was also accused of being linked to the IJO who participated in 1983 United States embassy bombing in Beirut.[24]