Word: mahdy
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After a sharp decline at the end of 2007, violence in Iraq seems to be on the upswing. The weekend's violence indicates that both the Sunni insurgency and the Shi'ite militias retain their ability and their desire to strike their enemies. The largest Shi'ite militia, the Mahdi Army, is observing a cease-fire and militia violence has fallen dramatically. But rogue elements of the organization continue to launch attacks against Americans. Sunday's mortars were launched from a Shi'ite enclave...
Across Baghdad, especially on the city's east side, the Mahdi Army continues to operate from de facto safe havens. The Americans cooperate with local leaders and cannot be too aggressive, lest they upset the fragile truce that has mostly held since the end of August. But as U.S. troops leave the Iraqi capital the balance of power may once again shift to the militia. The mortars were a reminder that the Mahdi Army is waiting the Americans out, not giving way to them...
According to U.S. claims, Iraqi recruits from the Mahdi Army of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and other militias have traveled in groups numbering between 20 and 60 to Iran in a training program organized by the Quds Force that dates back to 2004. Handlers from the Quds Force, an elite paramilitary wing of the Iranian army, allegedly transport recruits to training camps near Tehran...
...whose name is an alias, told TIME that there were indeed cells of fighters drawn from the ranks of the Mahdi Army who are now operating essentially at the behest of handlers and financiers with links to Iranian intelligence services. "They are gangs working under the name of Mahdi Army," says Ali, who joined the Mahdi Army in 2004. "The real Mahdi Army has nothing to do with them...
...military officials view such cells as rogue elements of the Mahdi Army, making them viable targets of attack despite the prevailing cease-fire declared by Sadr. But the lines between Sadr's militiamen and Iranian-backed operatives who emerge from those ranks are blurry at best in the murky world of Iraq's guerrilla movement. Ali, himself a mainline Mahdi member, says he was taken to Iran for training and, in fact, continues to receive financial support from operatives linked to Iranian intelligence. During his interview with TIME, he did not discuss whether his Mahdi Army superiors knew...