Militias Splintering Into Radicalized Cells

The gang is named after the pseudonym of its chief executioner, a short, skinny man in his early 20s with black hair and a thin moustache. Some residents said he was a member of a police commando unit. Both U.S. and Iraqi officials have expressed concern over the infiltration of Iraqi police units by militias and death squads. Hamida is said to have killed at least 100 people in recent months.

"We started hearing about his gang after Samarra. They became active after this incident," said Majid Abu Sara, 43, a Sunni resident of al-Amil, who asked that his full name not be used because he feared for his safety. He was referring to the February bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, about 65 miles north of Baghdad, that triggered cycles of sect-based revenge killings. Most of the other splinter groups also emerged after the attack.

The Haider Hamida gang arrived at Abu Sara's parents' doorstep three months ago, he recalled. They placed an improvised bomb at the front door, near their car. Within seconds, the house and the car were engulfed in flames. Abu Sara's 90-year-old father, his 70-year-old mother and 10 other relatives fled out the back.

"They displaced them just because they are Sunni," said Abu Sara, describing the motive for the attack. "My parents have not gone back."

At a recent briefing with reporters, another senior U.S. military official carried a list of the 23 militias. He began to rattle off names -- "Iraqiya Hezbollah, Khadimiya Brigades" -- but an aide stopped him, noting that he was revealing vital intelligence.

In August, U.S. and Iraqi troops conducted house-to-house sweeps in the western neighborhood of Ghazaliya, part of its Operation Together Forward to bring security to the capital. At the time, U.S. officials asserted that there was progress in pushing out militias and insurgents, and bringing down violence.

But by September, after the sweeps, "we saw death squads at least come in," a senior coalition intelligence official said at a recent briefing with reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. The death squads had links to groups inside Iraqi government ministries, he said.

One reason for the militia splintering is that differences have emerged within Sadr's movement over his decision to join Iraq's political process. The senior coalition intelligence official said he knew of at least "six major players" who have left Sadr's movement because they no longer find him radical enough and see him as "too accommodating to the coalition."

Yet many of the new groups, described as rogue elements, continue to link themselves with the Mahdi Army.

"They will execute operations and obtain funding under the guise of Jaish al-Mahdi," said the senior coalition intelligence official, using the Arabic name for the Mahdi Army. "But they are effectively beyond his control," he said, referring to Sadr.

These groups represent a threat to Sadr's image and political aspirations at a time when he controls four government ministries and 30 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

"There are definitely lots of terrorists who have used the Sadr office to achieve their goals to ruin the reputation of this army which has struggled for the service of the people," said Mohammadawi. "The Sadr office is trying very hard to capture any terrorist elements which could harm the security of society and Iraq in general."