Database: Identifiers of Designated Islamic Terrorist Organizations

Tashkilat Asad Baghdad

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

Tashkilat Asad Baghdad ('Formations of the Lion of Baghdad': 'Lion of Baghdad' being a reference to Imam Musa al-Kadhim, the seventh Shi'i Imam) is an Iraqi Shi'a militia led by one Abu Turab al-Salami. Defining itself as part of the 'Islamic Resistance' (al-Muqawama al-Islamiya), the group identifies ideologically with Iran but attempts to appeal across the Shi'a spectrum. Areas of operation in Iraq have included Salah ad-Din province, north Baghdad (al-Dhabitiya area) and eastern Anbar. However, the group has also advertised several 'martyrs' in Syria jointly claimed with Kata'ib A'imat al-Baqi' (another Iraqi Shi'a militia, affiliated with the "Islamic Resistance Movement" in Iraq). In September 2015, the group put up advertisements on its page for recruitment to fight in Syria. This fits in with a wider trend into the latter half of 2015 of newer and more obscure Iraqi Shi'a militia brands recruiting and dispatching contingents to Syria (cf. Kata'ib Ansar al-Wilaya; Kata'ib al-Muqawama al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq), where they may be operating under the umbrellas of more established militias. This compensates somewhat for the heavy preoccupation of the oldest Iranian proxies in Iraq (Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Kata'ib Hezbollah & Badr) with the home front.

On the home front, Tashkilat Asad Baghdad has joined other Iranian proxies and widespread Shi'a sentiment in expressing opposition to the proposed National Guard legislation that would entrust security more to local provincial forces.

Tashkilat Asad Baghdad Emblem	Tashkilat Asad Baghdad Poster	Tashkilat Asad Baghdad: Martyrdom Graphic	Tashkilat Asad Baghdad: Recruitment for Syria