Badr Organization
The Badr Organization (Arabic: منظمة بدر Munaẓẓama Badr), previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps, is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary organization headed by Hadi Al-Amiri. The Badr Brigade, formed in 1982 and led by Iranian officers, served as the military arm of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a Shia Islamic party based in Iran. The Badr Brigade was created by Iranian intelligence and Shia cleric Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim with the aim of fighting Saddam Hussein's regime during the Iran–Iraq War. Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq most of the Badr Brigades' fighters have entered the new Iraqi army and police force. Politically, Badr Brigade and SCIRI were considered to be one party since 2003, but have now unofficially separated[6] with the Badr Organization now an official Iraqi political party. Badr Brigade forces, and their Iranian commanders, have come to prominence in 2014 fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq.[7] It is a part of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Not to be confused with Badr Brigade in the Jordanian Army.
Badr Organization منظمة بدر
Abu Zainab AlKhalisi
Abu Leqa AlSafi (Nori Jafar Alsafi)
Abu Ali AlBasri (Adnan NaJar)
Abu Ahmad AlZayadi (Hamaed)
Sayyed Jafar AlMusawi (Talib)
Abu Ahad AlNaqeeb (Abdol Kareem)
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (Jamal Aal Ebrahim)
Abu Ayub AlBasri (Ebrahim)
1982–2003 as the military wing of the ISCI
2003–present as a political movement
National Iraqi Alliance[2] (2005–2014)
State of Law Coalition (2014–18)[3][4][5]
Fatah Alliance (2018–present)
1982–2003 (officially)
2014–present
Popular Mobilization Forces
2014–present
History[edit]
SCIRI[edit]
The organization was formed in Iran in 1982 as the military wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. It was based in Iran for two decades during the rule of Saddam Hussein and led by Iranian officers. It consisted of several thousand Iraqi exiles, refugees, and Iraqi Army defectors who fought alongside Iranian troops in the Iran–Iraq War. The group was armed and directed by Iran.
They briefly returned to Iraq in 1991 during the 1991 Iraqi uprising to fight against Saddam Hussein, focusing on the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.[8] They retreated back into Iran after the uprising was crushed.
In 1995, during the Kurdish Civil War, Iran deployed 5,000 Badr fighters to Iraqi Kurdistan.[9]
The Badr Corps consists of infantry, armor, artillery, anti-aircraft, and commando units with an estimated strength of between 10,000 and 50,000 men (according to the Badr Organization).
Scientific evaluation[edit]
The German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) recognized a rise in the Shiite Badr organization since 2014 under the leadership of its Secretary General Hadi al-Amiri. In 2017, SWP wrote that the Badr organization is one of "the most important actors in Iraqi politics". It has become the most important instrument of Iranian politics in Iraq. Its aim is "to exert the greatest possible influence on the central government in Baghdad and at the same time to build the strongest possible Shiite militias that are dependent on Iran". The foundation compared the role of the organization with that of Hezbollah in Lebanon.[34]