Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam
{{Short description|Assyrian militia in Iraq}}
{{Infobox war faction
| name = Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam
| native_name = كتائب روح الله عيسى بن مريم
| native_name_lang = ar
| logo = Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam Logo.png
| active = 2014–present
| ideology = Assyrian nationalism
Assyrian interests
| allegiance = {{IRQ}}
| leaders = Salwan Momika (until 2017){{assassinated}}{{Cite web |title=Iraqi man who carried out Quran burnings in Sweden killed in a shooting |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/30/iraqi-man-who-burned-quran-in-swedish-protests-shot-dead |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Nicholls |first=Catherine |date=2025-01-30 |title=Man who staged Quran burning protests in Sweden shot dead, authorities say |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/30/europe/salwan-momika-quran-burnings-sweden-dead-intl/index.html |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=CNN |language=en}}
| area = Iraq
| partof = Kata'ib al-Imam Ali
| opponents = {{flag|Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant}}
| battles = War in Iraq (2013-17)
| flag = 200px
}}
Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam ({{langx|ar|كتائب روح الله عيسى بن مريم}}; lit. The Battalion of the Spirit of God Jesus Son of Mary) is an Assyrian militia and subgroup of the Imam Ali Brigades, an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group. It was first formed and organized during the War in Iraq (2013-17) to fight against ISIL.
History
Kataib Rouh was formed in December 2014 as a Christian subgroup of the Imam Ali Brigades, itself the armed wing of the Islamic Movement of Iraq.Matthew Levitt & Phillip Smyth, [http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/kataib-al-imam-ali-portrait-of-an-iraqi-shiite-militant-group-fighting-isis Kataib al-Imam Ali: Portrait of an Iraqi Shiite Militant Group Fighting ISIS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010055532/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/kataib-al-imam-ali-portrait-of-an-iraqi-shiite-militant-group-fighting-isis |date=2017-10-10 }}, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, January 5, 2015. Kataib al-Imam Ali entered the war against ISIL in June 2014 as a predominantly Shiite militia backed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Upon the formation of the group, Imam Ali Brigades opened a training session for Assyrian irregulars to take part of.{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/profile-kataib-al-imam-ali |title=Profile: Kataib al-Imam Ali |last1=Hayek |first1=Abdullah |last2=al-Kaabi |first2=Ameer |last3=Knights |first3=Michael |last4=Malik |first4=Hamdi |date=27 February 2024 |website=washingtoninstitute.org |publisher=Washington Institute for Near East Policy |access-date=7 December 2024}}
Indian magazine The Week noted that the group had operated on the outskirts of Mosul from 2017, and that they had also been sanctioned by the U.S. government since 2018.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2023/07/20/protesters-storm-swedish-embassy-in-baghdad-ahead-of-planned-quran-burning.html |title=Protesters storm Swedish Embassy in Baghdad ahead of planned Quran burning |date=20 July 2023 |website=theweek.in |publisher=The Week |access-date=7 December 2024 |quote=The armed group that operated under Momika functioned in the outskirts of Mosul in 2017. The group has been under US sanctions since 2018.}} Amidst other Assyrian militias that took part in the War in Iraq (2013-17), the number of active fighters in Kataib Rouh Allah was likely much smaller.{{cite report |author1=Erica Gastion |author2=Andras Derzsi-Horvath |author3=Christine van den Toorn |author4=Sarah Mathieu-Comtois |date=August 2017|title=Backgrounder: Literature Review of Local, Regional or Sub-State Defense Forces in Iraq |url=https://gppi.net/media/Gaston__Horvath__van_den_Toorn__Mathieu-Comtois___2017__Literature_Review_of_Local__Regional_or_Sub-State_Defense_Forces_in_Iraq.pdf |publisher=Global Public Policy Institute |page=21 |docket= |access-date=7 December 2024}}
=Affilitiation with Salwan Momika=
The militia was rediscovered after the 2023 Quran burnings in Sweden, when a video surfaced of Salwan Momika delivering a speech addressing the brigade. Momika, an Assyrian from Bakhdida, had previously been connected to Rayan al-Kildani and the Babylon Movement, and had been part of the Syriac Assembly Movement.{{Cite web |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2333646/amp |title=As uncertainty shrouds his future, a past full of contradictions haunts Qur’an burner Salwan Momika |date=7 July 2023 |website=arabnews.com |publisher=Arab News |access-date=7 December 2024}} In his speech to the brigade, Salwan said:
“We either live with dignity or die courageously. I am the officer in charge of Kata’ib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam (the Brigade of the Spirit of God Jesus, Son of Mary), which is affiliated with the Imam Ali Brigades, peace be upon him,”.{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD3kc-vnofo |title=كتيبة روح الله عيسى(ع)، تقاتل تحت كتائب الامام علي (ع) |date=2 January 2015 |website=youtube.com |publisher=Iraqi Community Voice |access-date=7 December 2024}}
Modern activity
After the liberation of the Nineveh Plains from ISIS, the militia has not had any noteworthy public activity.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/arabic/articles/c721n2w18kno |title=سلوان موميكا: من هو اللاجئ العراقي الذي أثار الجدل بحرقه نسخة من المصحف في السويد؟ |last=Ahmed |first=Haidar |date=21 July 2023 |website=bbc.com |publisher=BBC |access-date=7 December 2024}} Since 2018, it has not been part of any military operations in Iraq, and may have been absorbed into the larger Popular Mobilization Forces.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Popular Mobilization Forces}}
{{Armed Iraqi groups in the Iraq War and the Iraq Civil War}}
Category:Religious paramilitary organizations
Category:2014 establishments in Iraq
Category:Anti-ISIL factions in Iraq
Category:War in Iraq (2013–2017)
Category:Military units and formations established in 2014
Category:Paramilitary forces of Iraq