High Command of Jihad and Liberation

"The High Command of Jihad and Liberation" ( Arabic: القيادة العليا للجهاد والتحرير ) - an association of Iraqi rebels , is conducting an armed struggle against the US Army and the Government of Iraq after the American intervention . Created in 2007, it included 23 battle groups ^[1] , including the largest Sufi rebel organization, “ Army of the People of the Naqshbandi Order ” (representatives of the tariqa Naqshbandi ) ^[2] . The association was led by Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri , the former chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and secretary of the Arab Socialist Revival Party .

In its first statement, “High Command” appealed to the United States with demands: recognize the resistance organizations as the only legitimate representatives of Iraq, withdraw troops from Iraq, stop the killing and destruction, release the prisoners, compensate Iraq for losses from occupation ^[1] .

The core of the association is the “Army of the People of the Naqshbandi Order,” created in December 2006 after the execution of Saddam Hussein by hanging, which caused outrage among his supporters ^[3] . During the reign of Hussein, the Sufis occupied a good position; ad-Duri himself was from the Kadiri tariqah ^{[3] [4]} . In the first years after the fall of Ba'athist rule and the occupation of Iraq, Sufis did not participate in large-scale Sunni resistance, which was dominated by Salafists ^[3] . Combat groups associated with al-Qaeda attacked the Sufis and their sacred places, destroyed the graves of Sufi saints ^[3] . Although sometimes the Sufis and Salafis acted together - during the battle of Fallujah in 2004, when the city was controlled by the “ Council of Shuras of the Mujahideen, ” representing a union of Salafists, Sufis and Baathists ^[3] . However, after the chaos and level of violence in Iraq increased, the Sufis began to complain about Shiite attacks and took up arms. Since 2005, the formation of Sufi armed groups began to resist the Americans ^[3] .

The High Command is an ideological opponent of the Islamic state - the High Command stands for a secular state within the internationally recognized borders of Iraq, while the Islamic State seeks to create a Salafi caliphate in several states. Ad-Duri condemned the actions of the Islamic State to expel Christians from Mosul and persecute the Yezidis , the “Army of the People of the Naqshbandi Order” forbids its fighters to attack civilians regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation ^[5] . However, their hatred of the United States and the Iraqi government forced them to cooperate in a number of cases. So, the “High Command” together with the IS participated in the assault of Mosul during the summer offensive of the IS in the north of Iraq in 2014 ^{[5] [6]} .

As of 2015, the “Army of the People of the Naqshbandi Order,” which is the basis of the “High Command”, is considered the most powerful and influential rebel organization in Iraq after the Islamic State ^[5] .