Free Iraqi Army | |
---|---|
الجيش العراقي الحر | |
Dates of operation | 19 July 2012–1 August 2014 |
Motives | Establishment of a Sunni state in Iraq |
Active regions | Iraq |
Size | 2,500+ [1] |
Allies |
Naqshbandi Army[
citation needed]
Al-Qaeda (Alleged, denied) Anbar Tribal Councils[ citation needed] Free Syrian Army |
Opponents |
Republic of Iraq
Iran
Syria
[2] |
Battles and wars | Iraqi insurgency |
Website | https://www.facebook.com/freeiraqiarmypage |
The Free Iraqi Army ( Arabic: الجيش العراقي الحر, Al-Jayš Al-‘Irāqī Al-Ḥurr, FIA) was a Sunni rebel group formed in the western Sunni-majority provinces of Iraq from Iraqi supporters of the Free Syrian Army rebels fighting in the Syrian Civil War. [3] The group aimed to overthrow the Shia-dominated government of Iraq, [4] believing that they would gain support in this from Syria should the rebels be successful in overthrowing Bashar al-Assad. [5] [6] An Iraqi counterterror spokesman denied this, saying that the name is merely being used by al-Qaeda in Iraq to "attract the support of the Iraqi Sunnis by making use of the strife going on in Syria." [7]
Aside from Anbar Province, the FIA reportedly had a presence in Fallujah, along the Syrian border near the town of Al-Qaim, and in Mosul in the north of Iraq. A recruiting commander for the group told a reporter from The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon that the group was opposed to both Al-Qaeda in Iraq and their opponents in the Sahwa militia. The same commander claimed that the group received financial support from cross-border tribal extensions and Sunni sympathizers in the Persian gulf states of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. [5]
On 4 February 2013, Wathiq al-Batat of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Iraq, announced the formation of the Mukhtar Army to fight against al-Qaeda and the Free Iraqi Army. [8] In August 2014, the group became defunct, after a large offensive by ISIL in northern Iraq, with activity on their websites ceasing.
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Despite the group's denial of links to al-Qaeda, the group had been accused of being affiliated with the group. [9] These accusations of links with both al-Qaeda and the Ba'athists led to a Najaf Shiite figure associated with the State of Law Coalition issuing a fatwa against supplying the group with weapons. [10]