Mukhtar Army | |
---|---|
جيش المختار | |
Leaders | Wathiq al-Battat |
Dates of operation | February 2013 – present |
Ideology | Shia Islamism Wilayat al Faqih |
Allies | Iraq Iran (Claimed by Battat, denied by the IRGC)[citation needed] |
Opponents | Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant People's Mujahedin of Iran Free Iraqi Army |
Battles and wars | Syrian Civil War[1] |
The Mukhtar Army is a Shi'a Iraqi militia group formed in February 2013 by Wathiq al-Battat, a former senior official in the Hezbollah Brigades.[2] Al-Battat pledged his loyalty to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.[3] Al-Battat was arrested briefly on 2 January 2014[4] but was released despite still being a fugitive. He was allegedly "accidentally assassinated" at point-blank range on 20 December 2014 at a fake police checkpoint in eastern Iraq by an unknown party[5][6] but has since been reported alive and has appeared in the public eye.[7][8]