Al-Ashtar Brigades

Terrorist Organization, Loyal to IRGC

Status:Top Alert – Entity designated / sanctioned for terror, WMD and human rights violation

Risk Level:99%

May harm your business future. Persons or entities that engage in transactions with this entity will be exposed to sanctions or subject to an enforcement action.

Working with this entity means supporting Iranian Regime, Regime Terrorist Activities & development of WMD

Info:
The al-Ashtar Brigades (Saraya al-Ashtar, named after Malik al-Ashtar) is a Shiite militant group in Bahrain designated as a terrorist organization by the governments of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

AAB is an Iran-backed terrorist organization aimed at overthrowing the Bahraini government. AAB has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks against police and security targets in Bahrain. In March 2014, AAB conducted a bomb attack that killed two local police officers and an officer from the United Arab Emirates. In January 2017, AAB shot and killed a local police officer. AAB has also called for violence against the Bahraini, British, Saudi Arabian, and U.S. governments on social media;

In January 2018, AAB formally adopted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) branding and reaffirmed its loyalty to Tehran to reflect its role in an Iranian network of state and non-state actors that operates against the United States and its allies in the region. Additionally, AAB members have received weapons and explosives from Iran, training at IRGC-funded camps in Iraq, and senior AAB members have taken refuge in Iran to evade prosecution by Bahraini authorities;

Al Ashtar Brigades recieved training in improvised explosive devices from the Hezbollah Brigades;

Ashtar’s social media activities and claims of attack have been sporadic in recent years;

It claimed dozens of small-scale bombings in 2013 and 2014, including a March 2014 bomb attack that killed two Bahraini and one Emirati police officer;

In 2015, it released a spate of videos claiming IED attacks on Bahraini security forces;

In Jan. 2016, a cell linked to Ashtar Brigades was arrested by Bahraini authorities. According to officials, the two-person cell was planning to execute “a series of dangerous bombings” in Bahrain;

They traveled to Iran on several occasions for financial and logistic support with the IRGC;

In 2012, Bahraini authorities allege the Ashtar cell members met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon and received $20,000 “in support of their organization.”;

Also Known As:
AAB
Saraya Al-Ashtar

Established:
2013

Country:
Bahrain

Person of interests:
Ahmad Hasan Yusuf
Alsayed Murtadha Majeed Ramadhan Alawi

Reason for the color:
» The Department of State has designated al-Ashtar Brigades (AAB) – an Iran-backed terrorist group in Bahrain – as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Department has also designated AAB as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224;