Qassem Suleimani heads the Quds force, and has been pivotal in the current military campaign against ISIL terrorists in both Iraq and Syria. The Quds force is an arm of the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp) whose mandate involves conducting both covert and overt foreign military campaigns on behalf of the Iranian military.
The successful lifting of the siege of Amerli was conducted under the command of Major General Qassem Suleimani, and he currently leads the offensive to recapture Tikrit from the takfiri terrorists. Suleimani has also been instrumental in coordinating the operations of the Shiite militias and synchronized them with the military operations being conducted by the Iraqi national army.
After the US invasion of Iraq and its subsequent occupation of the Muslim nation; numerous insurgent groups arose to oppose US rule, and among these insurgent groups where Shiite militias allied to Iran. It is suspected that Suleimani directed the insurgent operations of these militias, thus leading to the deaths of numerous American soldiers.
Nonetheless, the US has rallied alongside Suleimani in order to jointly defeat ISIL and also destroy affiliated Sunni terrorist groups. Even so, the incorporation of Shiite militias within the counter-terrorism coalition risks furthering the sectarian divide in the region.
