Iran-Sponsored Militia Launches Terror Group to Fight Israel
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by Steven Emerson
Golan Liberation Army. Photo: Screenshot.
An Iranian-supported militia, Al-Nujaba, says that it has formed the “Golan Liberation Army” to fight Israel, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reports.
“This army has been trained and has detailed plans. If the Syria regime asks us to, we are ready to act to liberate the Golan [from Israel] along with our allies,” Al-Nujaba spokesman Hashem Al-Mousawi said in a March 8 interview with Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Al-Mousawi also admitted that the new militant group is “part of the PMU [Popular Mobilization Units],” an Iraqi-backed umbrella organization comprised of numerous Shia militias, including some with close ties to Iran. The Golan Liberation Army emerged from the Iranian led “resistance” axis and consists of “special forces who have received training and equipment,” he said.
“Iran is the only country that has helped us,” Al-Mousawi said, “and sent us its military advisers, led by Qassem Soleimani.”
Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, is tasked with advancing Iran’s regional expansion and terrorist networks. Since September 2015, Iran has increased its forces in Syria from hundreds to thousands in order to support Hezbollah and prop up the Assad regime.
Despite Iran’s commitment to Syria, the Islamic Republic is establishing terrorist networks in the Golan Heights, using Hezbollah, Druze and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives to target Israel. The formation of the Golan Liberation Army shows that Iran is now diverting Iraqi militia assets from fighting ISIS to confronting the Jewish state.
Soleimani’s Quds Force financed most of the Iraqi-Shiite militias, and provided them with weapons — specifically to target American soldiers. Hezbollah aided this effort.
Israel is very concerned with the establishment of Iranian-led terrorist bases in the Golan Heights, especially since Hezbollah openly seeks to consolidate its presence in the region and use this new front against Israel in any future war.
