The Badr Organization ( Munaẓẓama Badr), previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps, is an Iraqi Shia Islamist and Khomeinist with the Badr Organization now being 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. It is a part of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
History
SCIRI
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 the government of Saddam Hussein, focusing on the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. They retreated into Iran after the uprising was brutally crushed by the Ba'athist regime.
In 1995, during the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War, Iran deployed 5,000 Badr fighters to Iraqi Kurdistan to support the PUK forces.
Post-invasion Iraq
<!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|200px|left|Fighters belonging to Badr Organisation. -->
Returning to Iraq following the 2003 US-led invasion, the group changed its name from brigade to organization in response to the attempted voluntary disarming of Iraqi militias by the Coalition Provisional Authority. It is however widely believed the organization was still active as a militia within the security forces and it had been accused of running a secret prison and sectarian killings during the Iraqi Civil War. According to a 2006 report by the Independent newspaper:
<blockquote>"Mr Pace said the Ministry of the Interior was 'acting as a rogue element within the government'. It was controlled by the main Shia party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI); the Interior Minister, Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi, is a former leader of SCIRI's Badr Brigade militia, which was one of the main groups accused of carrying out sectarian killings. Another was the Mahdi Army of the young cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is now part of the Shia coalition seeking to form a government after winning the mid-December election.
Many of the 110,000 policemen and police commandos under the ministry's control are suspected of being former members of the Badr Brigade. Not only counterinsurgency units such as the Wolf Brigade, the Scorpions, and the Tigers, but the commandos and even the highway patrol police were accused of acting as death squads during this period over a decade ago.
The paramilitary commandos, dressed in garish camouflage uniforms and driving around in pick-up trucks, were dreaded in Sunni neighbourhoods. People arrested by them during this period were frequently found dead several days later with their bodies bearing obvious marks of torture." A leaked US diplomatic cable cited sources alleging that Hadi al-Amiri had personally ordered attacks on Sunnis.
Structure
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).
- Quwat al-Shahid Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr
- Imam Muhammad al-Jawad Brigade
- Led by Secretary-General of Supreme National Front of Feyli Kurds, Maher al-Feyli
- Size: 1,000–5,000
- Helped by: Saad al-Madlabi (from State of Law Coalition) and Mouin Al-Kazmi
Scientific evaluation
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.
Election results
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|-
! Election
! Leader
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/–
! Position
! Government
|-
! Jan 2005
| rowspan=7 | Hadi Al-Amiri
| colspan=2 |
|
| New
| 1st
|
|-
! Dec 2005
| colspan=2 |
|
|
|
|
|-
! 2010
| colspan=2 |
|
| 3
|
|
|-
! 2014
| colspan=2 |
|
| 31
|
|
|-
! 2018
| colspan=2 |
|
| 14
|
|
|-
! 2021
| colspan=2 |
|
| 5
|
|
|-
! 2025
| 556,850
| 4.96%
|
| 1
| 6th
|
|}
See also
- Private militias in Iraq
- List of armed groups in the War in Iraq (2013-17)
- List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
- Holy Shrine Defender
References
External links
- Michele Norris & Ivan Watson, "Profile: Opposition Group Claiming to Represent Iraqi Shias Enters Northern Iraq," All Things Considered (March 10, 2003), NPR.
- Counter Extremism Project profile