Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
MULTIPLY<strong>IN</strong>G <strong>SHIITE</strong> ISLAMIST MILITIAS n 39<br />
ing the Iraq war. 208 The group’s admission to following Khamenei’s leadership<br />
and absolute velayat-e faqih strongly suggests continued links to Iran.<br />
AAH, too, was instrumental in creating spinoffs for the Syria fight.<br />
Akram Kaabi, an AAH founder and leader, was responsible for launching<br />
and leading HHN. Initially, claims suggested that Kaabi had formed<br />
another group, the Haidar al-Karrar Brigade, over a dispute with LAFA<br />
leaders over fighting in areas outside Sayyeda Zainab. 209 However, this<br />
appears to have been a cover story given that HHN has reported regularly<br />
sending fighters under its own banner to Aleppo since June 2013. Additionally,<br />
HHN still deploys forces in the vicinity of Sayyeda Zainab, namely<br />
Liwa al-Imam al-Hassan al-Mujtaba. Groups associated with Liwa Dhulfiqar,<br />
which itself split from LAFA but maintains a close relationship with<br />
the network, fought in areas throughout southern Syria. Adding further<br />
levels of absurdity to the initial claim regarding HHN’s formation, LAFA,<br />
Liwa Dhulfiqar, the RRF, AAH’s Liwa Kafil Zainab, and the Badr Organization,<br />
among others, have all reportedly been active outside the Damascus<br />
area. If anything, HHN was yet another Iranian proxy front group used to<br />
expand Tehran’s influence and recruit more fighters for Syria.<br />
While Iran’s proxies provided most organizational deployments to Syria,<br />
elements from the Sadrist Movement were also called upon to supply fighters.<br />
In the case of Liwa Dhulfiqar, the group’s commanders would intimate<br />
they had connections to the more elite, Iranian-trained and equipped Liwa<br />
al-Youm al-Mawud. Abu Ithnan al-Budairi, one of Liwa Dhulfiqar’s operational<br />
commanders, was photographed in front of a poster belonging to the<br />
group. He would affirm his links to the organization and post pictures with<br />
his family members in front of Liwa al-Youm al-Mawud posters. 210<br />
Another source for Iran’s expanding Iraqi proxy network has been splinters<br />
associated with the Mahdi Army. These Sadrist Movement fragments helped<br />
establish AAH as well as LAFA, LIH, Liwa Dhulfiqar, and possibly the RRF.<br />
Despite imagery and claims projecting loyalty to al-Sadr, as discussed earlier,<br />
many of these groups have simultaneously claimed adherence to absolute<br />
velayat-e faqih, implying a break from al-Sadr’s tenets.<br />
Exotic Foreign Fighters<br />
Shiite fighters from outside the usual recruitment zones of Iraq and Lebanon<br />
have helped push the idea of a truly global pan-Shiite jihad in Syria.<br />
In the United States and Canada, cases were observed of Hezbollah finding