Jaysh Muhammad al-Fatih

Jaysh Muhammad al-Fatih (Arabic: جيش محمد الفاتح, romanized: Jaysh Muḥammad al-Fātiḥ, lit. 'Army of Muhammad the Conqueror') was an Iraqi militant group that is both politically and religiously motivated. The politically motivated faction within JM was primarily made up of former Ba'athist members mainly from the Sunni region. Many of the people who had enjoyed a special status during the leadership of Saddam Hussein, were from Tikrit, which is in turn within an area of Iraq where the Arab population is mostly Sunni. People who generally hold the ex-vice-president, Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, in exceptionally high esteem were members of the security, intelligence and police forces from the previous government.

Jaysh Muhammad al-Fatih was initially believed to consist of fighters who had infiltrated Iraq from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. Later it was reported by the Iraq Survey Group, that membership appears to be primarily of Iraqi citizens, former regime officers. This was supported by their ability to use a pre-war information network and supply infrastructure. The JM was responsible for sophisticated attacks on Coalition forces during early 2004, assisted by former intelligence and security officers.