These days mark the sixth anniversary of the assassination of Haj Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis in Baghdad, where he was killed alongside Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in a US airstrike that targeted their convoy at Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, whose real name was Jamal Jaafar Al-Tamimi, was born in 1954 in the old district of Basra. He went on to become one of the most prominent military and political figures in modern Iraqi history and a leading symbol of resistance to US occupation and terrorism.
Haj Al-Muhandis studied engineering at the University of Baghdad between 1973 and 1977. After graduating, he worked as a civil engineer at the General Company for Iron and Steel in Basra before earning a master’s degree in political science. This academic background provided him with a broad intellectual foundation that later enabled him to bridge political strategy and military leadership.
He joined the Islamic Dawa Party in the early 1970s and pursued preliminary religious studies at the seminary office of Ayatollah Sayyid Mohsen Al-Hakim in Basra. Following the events of Rajab 1979 and the arrest of the martyred Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr, Haj Al-Muhandis became one of the most wanted figures by Iraq’s Revolutionary Court. After Saddam Hussein assumed power in 1979, he was forced into exile, first to Kuwait and then to Iran in 1980, where he later became a commander in the Badr Corps and a member of the Supreme Islamic Council in 1985.
Months before the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Al-Muhandis stepped down from his positions in the Badr Corps and the Supreme Council, choosing to operate as an independent figure while maintaining ties with various political forces. He continued to play a central role in Iraqi politics, contributing to the formation of the Unified National Coalition, the Iraqi National Coalition, and later the current National Alliance.
Haj Al-Muhandis was sought by the United States on charges related to directing military operations against US forces in Iraq, prompting him to temporarily relinquish his parliamentary seat until the withdrawal of American troops from the country.
With the establishment of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), al-Muhandis was appointed deputy head of the organization. He played an active role across all fronts, contributing decisively to the planning and execution of operations against ISIS and the liberation of Iraqi territories from its control. His name became closely associated with the PMF’s victories and its historic role in defending Iraq’s unity and sovereignty.
Haj Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis embodied a model of leadership that combined military expertise with political vision. Through strategic alliances on both the battlefield and in the political arena, he left a lasting imprint on the course of Iraqi resistance. His assassination was a profound loss, but it did not erase the military and political legacy he forged in Iraq and across the region.
Source: Al-Manar Website