Hadi al-Amiri is the leader and secretary-general of the Badr Organization, an Iranian-backed militia and political party based in Iraq and affiliated to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).  From 2011 to 2014, al-Amiri served as Iraq’s transportation minister, he was also deputy commander of Kata’ib Hezbollah, second to al-Muhandis, and the deputy commander of the PMF, the umbrella organization of militia forces backed by the Iranian regime headed by Falih al-Fayyadh, the national advisor of former Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki. 

Al-Amiri has a history of instigating sectarian violence in Iraq. In a period of heightened violence between 2004 and 2006, al-Amiri reportedly ordered attacks on up to 2,000 civilians. “One of [al-Amiri’s] preferred methods of killing allegedly involved using a power drill to pierce the skulls of his adversaries.” Al- Amiri, who had close ties to Qassem Soleimani, now heads the Iranian-backed “Fatah Alliance” in parliament and continues to be the leader of the Badr Organization, and to have a very relevant role in Kata’ib Hezbollah, and the entire PMF organization.