Country: | Syria |
Details of Formation: | The group publicly announced its creation on 30 June 2013 via Facebook. |
Details of Termination: | -- |
Purpose: | The main purpose of the group is to support the Syrian government in the Syrian civil war. Alongside other Iraqi Shia militias in Syria, its contribution has been considered ineffectual. Still, it was lauded for its participation in the pro-government victory in al-Mleha. |
Organisation: | The group’s leader is Majid Abu Dhiba, who portrays himself as close to the Iraqi military. Liwa al-Imam al-Husayn officially promotes its affiliation with Sadrist militias and its loyalty to Moqtada al-Sadr. It is questionable whether they really support Sadr or whether this is an Iranian-backed attempt to make Shia followers of Sadr join the war in Syria. |
Weapons and Training: | -- |
Size: | The largest number of PGM members photographed at once has been 16 members, as of 2013. It is considered likely that the group has more fighters. |
Reason for Membership: | -- |
Treatment of Civilians: | During the Ramadan 2013, the group held nightly iftar meals for the residents of the Sayyida Zaynab neighborhood. |
Other Information: | Important: The sources do not explicitly mention a direct link to the Syrian regime. Nevertheless, the group was included due to the similarities with other Iranian-backed Iraqi militias operating in Syria, which are reportedly pro-Assad. This approach makes the coding decision independent of potentially random word choice and allows the user to decide whether to include these groups for their analysis. The sources report about several disputes with Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq even though both groups seem to share personnel. |
References: | Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD |