Following advances made by the armed tribes and the series of defeats
suffered by Maliki’s forces in al-Anbar and Mosul, a number of Quds Force
experts and commanders stationed in Baghdad and began evaluating the situation
on the ground in various fronts. Quds Force military experts in their
evaluations on how to confront the armed tribes reached this conclusion that
the urgent and immediate solution available under the current circumstances is
to use its affiliated militants such as Asaeb al-Haq, Katayeb Hezbollah and
Badr militants that needed to be restructured. Under orders issued by Qassem
Suleimani and following the example of Revolutionary Guards Bassij units in
Iran, the 9th Badr Corps forces with a newly structured ranks and
file were dispatched to the warfronts, such as Diyala Province, to reinforce
Maliki’s forces. For this new structure Suleimani called on retired Badr
commanders – who had worked for the Quds Force back in Iran for years prior to
2003 – and dispatched them as Badr battalions on combat missions. In this
regard former Badr commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, a member of Suleimani’s
inner circle, was called back and he is currently acting as Suleimani’s chief
of staff in Iraq.
The Quds Force also ordered Hadi al-Ameri to immediately organize a meeting
with his associated sheikhs and begin recurring forces for the special Badr
‘Basij’ forces. After holding this session in the 9th Badr office in
Baghdad’s Jaderiye district, al-Ameri dispatched all the gathered forces along
with Asaeb and Katayeb units to station in battlefronts in Diyala Province. The
following area measures taken to this day by the Quds Force with 9th
Badr militias to reinforce Maliki’s military forces and the frontlines:
- Following a fatwa issued by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani on
recruiting forces, Hadi al-Ameri called on Badr commanders to register all
volunteers in their regions. These volunteers, associated to the Badr forces,
received weapons and gear from the government
after their registration. These volunteers were then dispatched to various
training centers along with senior Badr elements. The weapons that Badr
militants received in this recruiting were: assault rifles, PKT light machine
guns, mortar launchers, 107mm mini Katiusha launchers and 14.5mm heavy anti-artillery
guns. A large number of these volunteers linked to the 9th Badr
forces were transferred to the orchards of Baghdad’s al-Dora district to
finalize their training.
- al-Ameri was appointed by Iran’s supreme leader
Khamenei as Suleimani’s deputy and in charge of all military affairs in Diyala
Province. All forces, including the Asaeb, Katayeb and Badr units, along with
other military units in Diyala Province will be under his command. Suleimani
has stipulated to Hadi al-Ameri that al-Abadi and his government have
no responsibility in defending Diyala and he is the all-out chief of this
province.
- According to orders issued by al-Ameri, a large
portion of Badr militants are stationed in Abu Gharib, two Baghdad districts of
Karkh and Rasafa, and especially in the highly sensitive regions of Mansour,
Kadhemiya and Sho’le. Other Badr units were dispatched to defend Diyala, being
very important for Hadi al-Ameri. These units were sent to Ghalebiye,
Rashediye, Khalis and Baquba.
- The command of Badr militant groups in all
areas have been entrusted to retired Badr commanders who had worked with the
Quds Force in Iran for years.
- The Quds Force also called on al-Ameri to use
the Badr forces and senior Badr commanders, who had lived in Iran for years, in
the fight against Sunnis and armed tribes. In mid-June al-Ameri brought around
250 senior Badr commanders from Iraq’s southern provinces to Baghdad and
Diyala, most of them were used to stage attacks against the town of Azim in
Diyala that was taken over by the armed tribes.
- Senior commanders and new volunteers linked to
the Badr forces were formed into independent infantry battalions and were not
embedded with government military or police forces; In fact, they received
orders directly from Hadi al-Ameri.
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