Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and cofounder of the Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of developments related to Iran-backed militias.
Sary Mumayiz is a research assistant with The Washington Institute’s Military and Security Studies Program. He specializes in non-state armed groups, insurgencies, and political violence in the Middle East.
New data shows that Iran-backed Afghan and Pakistani terrorists are being brought back into Iraq from Iran and warehoused at a broadening range of Iraqi military bases.
In the aftermath of Assad’s fall, Iraq’s government hosted hundreds of Afghan and Pakistani Shia fighters as they poured over the border from Syria’s Deir al-Zoir province. As Militia Spotlight noted, these U.S.-designated terrorist organizations – Liwa Fatemiyoun and Liwa Zainabiyoun, both controlled by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – were then moved from Al-Qaim (on the Syrian border) to Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) camps such as Jurf as-Sakr and Camp Ashraf.
Further investigation shows that Iraq’s government – notionally headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani – has been allowing other Fatemiyoun and Zainabiyoun fighters to enter Iraq from Iran. These Fatemiyoun and Zainabiyoun fighters are drawn from those that evacuated Syria from Russia’s Khmeimim airbase in coastal Syria, i.e., the Afghan and Pakistani Shia fighters stationed in northern and central Syria.
Since the start of January, the IRGC appears to have been reinserting hundreds of these troops into Iraq as unarmed pilgrims. After visiting Shia shrines at Karbala, Najaf, Kadhimiyah and Samarra, the Afghan and Pakistani Shia fighters have then been integrated into PMF bases around the country. These include:
Abu Muntadher al-Mohammedawi (Camp Ashraf), a Badr Organization camp in Diyala.
Martyrs Camp, a Shia Turkmen Badr camp near Amerli, Salah al-Din.
The Public Security Forces School camp in Rusafa, Baghdad.
Shia leaders involved in the movement of these Afghan and Pakistani terrorist personnel include:
KSS’s Ahmed Khudair al-Magsusi, the commander of 14th PMF brigade and commander of the PMF Wasit Operations Command, with control of the Zurbatiyah border crossing.
Badr Organization’s Talib al-Musawi, the PMF Diyala Operations Command head.
Nabil Isa al-Bashiri (aka Abu Thaer al-Bashiri), commander of the 16th PMF Brigade, another Badr unit).
Major General Hassan Jawad al-Silawi, the new Director of Iraqi Military Intelligence appointed by PM Sudani in December 2024, also a Badr-linked commander.
Questions arising from Iraq's import of terrorists from Iran
Analysts should ask why Iran is feeding Fatemiyoun and Zainabiyoun fighters back into Iraq instead of holding them at Iranian bases or repatriating them to Afghanistan (Pakistan does not appear to welcome the return of Zainabiyoun fighters, who are designated as terrorists by Pakistan). Even if the fighters entering Iraq were purely Pakistani troops, why are they being foisted onto Iraq, apparently for Baghdad to feed and pay within Iraqi state PMF units? Are these forces intended to be used to bolster PMF units in Sunni areas of Iraq – as some contacts suggest – or are they intended to be fed back into Syria at some point?
The policy question for the U.S. government remains the same: why Iraq—a U.S. economic partner and substantial aid recipient—is providing terrorist groups with housing and other material support, noting that such actions will require the imposition of U.S. sanctions. Washington should also ask who approved the entry of these fighters into Iraq and permitted them to remain there. Either Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani gave terrorists permission to shelter in Iraq, or he has little control over Iraq's security environment and cross-border movements.
