THE SHIITE JIHAD IN SYRIA AND ITS REGIONAL EFFECTS

JOINING OF FRONTS n 53
Darraji’s unit, consisting of Syria veterans, 282 appears to have engaged in
its first Iraqi operations in June 2014 near Tikrit. In mid-August, the branch
was reportedly attempting to advance toward the city of Mosul. 283 According
to its Facebook page, the group also fought alongside Badr Organization
elements in Awja, a town near Tikrit’s airport. 284
During a fight near Baghdad’s airport, the LAFA–Darraji Branch had
the distinction of receiving an exclusive CNN interview. 285 One of the interviewed
fighters, a Syria veteran, had previously served with an Iraqi Shiite
militant group that fought U.S. forces during the Iraq war. 286 CNN’s Arwa
Damon claimed the group was “applying skills they learned from attacking
U.S. troops.” 287 Most ironic in this context were Darraji’s hopes, after the
fighting ends, to “[apply] for asylum in the west someday.” 288
Yet another LAFA-type group announced in summer 2014 was QQAFA,
commanded by Sheikh Auws al-Khafaji, a Sadrist Movement figure who
had visited Shiite forces in Damascus in May. The announcement that
Sheikh Abu Kamil al-Lami had attained a leadership role in the group signaled
Iran’s hand in its creation. Earlier in 2014, Lami, originally an AAH
commander, had been involved in operations that included AAH and the
Iraqi army in Fallujah. 289 QQAFA was also actively promoted by fighters
and pages associated with Liwa Dhulfiqar and the RRF, whereas it went
unmentioned in LAFA-Syria online networks. 290
In August, LAFA-Syria announced the creation of its own Iraq wing 291
with a seasoned commander, Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Darraji, who reportedly
led the Sayyeda Zainab– and Iraq-based Association of the Supporters of
Imam al-Mahdi (Rabita Ansar al-Imam al-Mahdi). 292 He had also served
as LAFA-Syria’s Iraq representative and recruiter. LAFA-Syria likewise
reverted to its messaging mode adopted in early 2013, which increasingly
promoted loyalty to Bashar al-Assad and a more generalized and less ideologically
specific Shiite Islamic image. 293
Reflecting the shift toward Iraq, HHN and Kataib Hezbollah both
established their own popular committees formed around local recruits. The
latter’s Saraya al-Difa al-Shabi was one of the first groups to be announced,
and it began recruitment efforts two months before the main ISIS advance
in June. Established training camps included one facility for HHN in
Kumayt, Maysan, where up to a hundred fighters were shown performing
basic calisthenics and marching. 294
Recruitment and deployments have continued. In Samarra, AAH and
Kataib Hezbollah are heavily deployed and have taken control of main sec-