The Falcons cell is the most feared and respected intelligence unit in Iraq.

Thanks to the control this cell imposes, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi today has access to information on all armed factions in Iraq.

In her report published by the British Middle East Eye website, writer Suad Al-Salihi said that the Special Intelligence Unit, which has been dubbed "the most dangerous spy network" in Iraq, is trained by the CIA and the British intelligence service, and is proud to carry out hundreds of successful operations Against the militants, the other Iraqi intelligence services rivaled in scope and prowess.

Prime Minister Al-Kazemi was suddenly able to change his leadership and wrest power from his rivals, to secure for himself an apparatus that would give him knowledge and power, and that would cause great inconvenience to his political enemies.

Since taking office last May, Al-Kazemi, who headed Iraqi intelligence, has struggled to control the various security and military services in his country, most of which are under the control of political and armed factions, most of which are backed by Iran.

In this regard, security and political officials told MEE that controlling this cell entitles Al-Kazimi to oversee the second most effective government spy system in Iraq, whose human and technical resources have been exploited from time to time in targeting political and civilian opponents and eliminating them over recent years.

In fact, the change in security positions came from the womb of the tragedy of the twin suicide bombing that ISIS claimed in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad on January 21.

Al-Kazemi (who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces) intervened in an effort to mitigate the damage and address security breaches. He dismissed 5 senior security and military leaders, among them Abdul Karim Abd Fadel, known as Abu Ali Al-Basri, or "the master of spies" as his comrades prefer to call him, He was the General Director and one of the founders of the Falcon Cell.

Al-Basri's dismissal was the biggest shock, as Al-Kazemi's allies and opponents alike considered his dismissal to be insulting and unpredictable, and they told Middle East Eye that the prime minister was working to settle scores, using the Tayaran Square bombing to get rid of a man who most Shiite politicians consider a successful and apolitical figure. .

However, this description was a far cry from the image that Al-Kazemi presented on Al-Basri, while justifying this decision before the National Security Council.

One of the council members - on condition of anonymity - stated that Al-Kazemi said clearly that the intelligence services of foreign countries are aware of what Al-Basri is doing, but the Iraqi government is ignorant of this.

He added that Al-Basri did not submit his reports to the current Minister of the Interior or the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry for Intelligence Affairs, who are supposed to be directly responsible for him, as both submitted a negative assessment of his work.

The source pointed out that Al-Kazemi told the council that Iraqi intelligence was monitoring the movements of a foreign intelligence officer, and discovered that Al-Basri was meeting with him.

Major General Yahya Rasoul, Al-Kazemi's military spokesman, refused Middle East Eye's request for comment.

For his part, Al-Basri insisted that the government was fully aware of all his activities and those of his men with foreign agents, whether the coalition fighting ISIS or representatives of embassies.

Al-Basri denied the possibility that Al-Kazemi could accuse him of collaborating with a foreign intelligence agent, as he told Middle East Eye, “It is unlikely that Al-Kazemi would say similar words, that it is impossible. I have only worked for Iraq, and hundreds of car bombs and suicide attacks have been thwarted, ..., as I did. By protecting hundreds of our daughters in universities who were subjected to blackmail via the Internet, he added, "I have not attended any interview with any international party without the knowledge of the Iraqi government."

The double suicide bombing in Baghdad left 32 dead and 110 wounded (Reuters)

Get out of the chaos

The status and unique capabilities of the Falcons Cell emerged in the wake of the chaos in Iraq in 2009. At that time, the security situation was constantly deteriorating, as Al Qaeda and various armed groups carried out attacks in and around Baghdad on a daily basis, leaving dozens dead.

In addition, the Iraqi security apparatus was completely exhausted, and burdened with financial and administrative corruption, sectarian and political divisions, and a lack of experience, which helped the militants outpace them.

According to former security leaders, Sunni and Shiite armed groups infiltrated the Iraqi security apparatus.

In the same context, a high-ranking police officer said, “The armed groups know all the information about us, such as the names of our officers, their ranks, their vehicle numbers, addresses, duties, and equipment, and even the timing of changing the working hours. And since they know all the details related to their security missions and goals, they anticipate all our movements.”

"We lost many of our officers and soldiers, they were being snatched one after the other, and we did not know how to stop the bloodbath."

The various security agencies tried to find solutions and limit the leaks that were exacerbated by the multiplicity of security and judicial agencies involved in each operation.

"We used to call it the Special Operations Agency of the Intelligence Directorate at the Ministry of Interior, and the Falcons cell is like an executive body that provides special services," said a high-ranking security official familiar with the unit’s work from the beginning.

Iraqi forces' movements to confront ISIS in the north of the country (Reuters)

Elite unit

During his second term, former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki tried to keep the Falcons cell far from his security ministers.

Instead, he appointed an old friend and companion of him in the Dawa Party, Abu Ali al-Basri, as head of the unit.

Al-Basri - who was characterized by his calm nature, his modesty and lack of inclination to lights and gatherings - was one of the 12 Iraqi officials who established the cell in cooperation with American and British intelligence.

The unit consisted of between 100 and 160 men, but by the year 2021, this number had risen to 1,800. It had its own budget, as well as a special judge and detainee in Baghdad, and most importantly, its functions and secret structure were closely guarded, and it had the latest espionage, surveillance and monitoring techniques. .

It should be noted that there is no other Iraqi security apparatus capable of outperforming it in this regard, with the exception of the intelligence apparatus that Al-Kazemi headed.

A former security official who was overseeing the unit’s performance stated that “the Falcons cell is one of the most important and dangerous intelligence services in the country. It is an elite organization specializing in combating terrorism and organized crime for 10 years, and it has equipment, expertise and a network of resources that have placed at its disposal many files that can Destroy any political or armed figure or force in the country. "

Growing success

The author pointed out that in the first four years, few people knew of the existence of the Falcons cell, as the unit's tasks were secret and limited to fighting terrorism and the Sunni armed groups involved in this file.

The cell’s direct association with Maliki’s office added to the ambiguity that hovers around it.

In this context, a high-ranking security official at the Ministry of Interior confirmed the rift that existed between the Falcons cell and the rest of the agencies.

He explained to Middle East Eye, "Al-Basri did not share the reports. Sometimes we heard the Deputy Minister of Interior for Intelligence saying: We will do a big operation this week, or: We carried out an important operation last week, without revealing any details. Everyone knows that they were focusing on my organization." Al-Qaeda and the state at a later time, and this was not part of our daily work in the ministry. "

The author stated that the name of the Falcons cell was known during the rise of ISIS, specifically in February 2014, and appeared for the first time in the media when the Ministry of Interior revealed that it had thwarted a suicide attack targeting the Juvenile Prison in Al-Tobji, west of Baghdad, and the cell’s second media appearance came after 10 months when it was attributed. To obtain intelligence information that was used in an air raid that killed 14 militants close to the leader of the Islamic State at the time, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and al-Baghdadi himself was wounded in that attack.

Over the following years, many operations were attributed to the Falcon Cell, according to official data, which led to the killing of dozens of ISIS and its leaders, or thanks to the information provided by the cell.

Away from Iran

The website says that the elements of the cell were carefully chosen, as most of the officers were selected from the Shiites loyal to Maliki and Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization, as well as a number of other leaders backed by Iran.

However, none of these officers was permitted to show loyalty to ensuring the continued support of Western forces, and Iran itself has not "publicly" provided any logistical or technical support to it.

A well-informed security official said that the cell was formed in cooperation with the American and British intelligence agencies, which insisted on nominating the Falcons' cell officers exclusively for high-level training courses, and they were very meticulous in their investigation operations, refusing to accept anyone with links to Iran.

Theoretically, the unit was considered clean hands, but on the ground, the Falcons cell did not pursue any of the armed Shiite factions in Iraq, especially those linked to Iran.

The cell is the most dangerous tool that can be used to disintegrate species, because it knows everything about it.

According to the security official, the cell did not act against the factions, and at the same time it did not collude with them.

Al-Basri also did not work with the factions, but this does not mean that he does not leak some information to them from time to time, or conceal it.

Al-Kazemi was keen to move himself to follow the security measures in several regions (Al-Jazeera)

Political tool

In addition to the dismissal of Al Basri, Al-Kazemi ordered the re-linking of the unit’s activity with the Office of the Commander in Chief, and full coordination with the rest of the security services.

This exposes the cell's involvement in other tasks, in addition to what it has been publicly delegating to.

Officials also told Middle East Eye that the human and technical resources of the Falcon Cell had been used to pursue activists in the anti-government demonstrations that began in October 2019. They said that some officers of the Falconry Cell had collaborated with some Iranian-backed armed factions to arrest a number of activists in Basra. And Karbala and blackmail them.

A high-ranking security official at the Ministry of the Interior stated that Maliki was "the first to use the cell against his political opponents," including Tariq Al-Hashemi, the former vice president accused of involvement in terrorist cases, and sentenced to death by hanging in absentia.

The unit is also alleged to have targeted former Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi.

The Falcons cell is just a fraction of al-Maliki's legacy, which political opponents have been competing for since 2018. According to the official, the Al-Fateh coalition and the bloc are in a fierce competition to seize the largest possible number of state tools.

In the meantime, it seems that Al-Kazemi is waiting for his chances and is playing a tactical game, in preparation for supporting his position before the next parliamentary elections, but his opponents believe that the accumulation of all intelligence services in one hand represents a danger to everyone, so they launch an attack on him.