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Jihad IntelProfiles of jihadist groups, with designation status current as of October 6, 2026

Database: Identifiers of Designated Islamic Terrorist Organizations

Liwa al-Shabab al-Risali

Designation Status (as of October 6, 2026)

US State Dept FTONot listed official list
US Treasury OFAC SDN (SDGT)Not listed official list
UK ProscribedNot listed official list
EU Terrorist ListsNot listed official list
Canada Listed EntitiesNot listed official list
Australia ListedNot listed official list

Checked against the official lists on October 6, 2026. Listing names are quoted as the list gives them. What changed since 2018

Profile written 2014 The profile below is the original Jihad Intel text and has not been updated. Designation status above is current.

Not yet designated terrorist by a Western country
Base of operations: Iraq

Liwa al-Shabab al-Risali is a Shi'a militia that has arisen in 2014 in response to the renewed Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq. Describing itself also as the 'arm/armor of the marja'iya' (marja'iya= Shi'a religious authority), it claims affinity with Muqtada al-Sadr's father Ayatollah Muhammad Muhammad Sadeq al-Sadr and Sheikh Mahmoud al-Tamimi, a prominent local Shi'a cleric from Ibrahim bin Ali (a locality 16 miles from Baghdad) who was assassinated in 2004. In keeping with this local reverence, the group primarily appears to be operating west and north of Baghdad, including fighting with Sunni Arab insurgents in the al-Karma district of eastern Anbar province, as well as in al-Dabitiya in north Baghdad province.