Soldiers of Heaven
Led by Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, who was killed in the battle,[2] [3][4] the Soldiers of Heaven were accused of trying to start a "messianic insurrection" at the holy city of Najaf during the event of Ashura.[5] The Soldiers of Heaven were said to believe that spreading chaos would hasten the return of the 12th Imam/Mahdi,[6][7][8] who will then rule the world, destroying tyranny and falsehood and bringing peace and justice before the Day of Judgement."[12] According to reports, The Soldiers of Heaven are/were: The members of the group, which numbered around 1,000,[15] appeared to be mostly poor Shi'a farmers from an agricultural area 19 kilometres northeast of Najaf, but they also seemed to have been heavily armed.[18] Asaad Abu Gilel, the governor of Najaf has claimed that members of the group, including women and children, planned to disguise themselves as pilgrims and kill leading Shi'a clerics during the Ashoura holiday.[20] Iraqi officials, including Najaf deputy governor Abdel Hussein Attan, had claimed that the group had links with al-Qaeda, but given that Sunni jihadists are fiercely anti-Shia, this seemed unlikely.