Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam
Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam (Arabic: كتائب روح الله عيسى بن مريم; lit. The Brigade of the Spirit of God Jesus Son of Mary) is a militia composed of Iraqi Christians trained and supplied by an Iraqi Shi'ite militia as a subgroup in the fight against ISIL.
Formation and activities
Kataib Rouh was formed in December 2014 as a Christians subgroup of the Kataib al-Imam Ali (Brigade of Imam Ali), itself the armed wing of Harakat al-Iraq al-Islamiyah (Movement of the Islamic Iraq).[1]
Kataib al-Imam Ali had entered the war against ISIL in June 2014 with uniformed, well-armed members. It has been quite active in Amerli, Tuz, and Diyala fighting alongside other Iraqi Shiite militias, all of them Iranian proxies. In Salah al-Din province, fighters from the group posed in videos with the severed heads of their slain enemies. In late December 2014, the group set about training Christians for a subgroup called Kataib Rouh wing.[2]
References
- ↑ Matthew Levitt & Phillip Smyth, Kataib al-Imam Ali: Portrait of an Iraqi Shiite Militant Group Fighting ISIS, Washington Institute for Near East Policy (January 5, 2015).
- ↑ "Kataib al-Imam Ali: Portrait of an Iraqi Shiite Militant Group Fighting ISIS - The Washington Institute for Near East Policy". Washingtoninstitute.org. 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2016-01-25.