Sheibani Network

The Sheibani Network was an Iraqi smuggling network and Shi'a Insurgent group led by Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, an ex-commander of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq's Badr Brigades. The Badr Brigades' militiamen and supply lines became known collectively as the “Sheibani Network,” which maintained links to Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) and to Kata'ib Hezbollah. The group was believed to be used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force to supply Iraqi Special Groups. The group is alleged to be responsible for numerous attacks on Iraqi and Coalition forces. In 2009 the American Enterprise Institute believed that the network consisted of 280 members, divided in 17 units. US commanders estimated that weapons smuggled and used by the group were responsible for the death of 170 and injuries to 600 American soldiers by February 2007. Beginning in February 2013, reports from Iraqi newspapers Al Masalah and Kitabat claimed splits had emerged within Kata'ib Hezbollah, leading to the expulsion of al-Sheibani as its leader. In May 2013 al-Sheibani founded Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, but retired from his role as leader in 2014 when he became an advisor to Iraqi Interior Minister Mohammed Al-Ghabban.