What is the Mahdi Army?
Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr established his movement’s military branch, the Mahdi army, in the wake of the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The militia soon developed its own structure after the fall of Saddam Hussein. It is particularly well implanted among the poorer segments of Iraq’s Shia population. With approximately 60,000 fighters in black uniform, it is today one the country’s most powerful militias. The army is named after the twelfth Shia imam, “Al Mahdi,” who disappeared at the end of the 9th century. Upon his return, Shias believe he will restore justice and truth on Earth. The stronghold of Sadr’s followers is a poor neighbourhood in the northeast of Baghdad known as Sadr City, where some two million people are crammed in dire living conditions. Once called Saddam City, the area was renamed in 2003 as a tribute to the family of Moqtada al-Sadr. Yet, the Mahdi Army is also powerful in several southern Iraqi cities, including the country’s main oil port Basra. Who is Moqt
