Active 1999 (1999)–present Area of operations Khuzestan, Iran | Leaders Habib Jabr al-Ka'bi Opponents Iran
Armed Forces | |
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Ideology Arab nationalism
Separatism | ||
The Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (Arabic: حركة النضال العربي لتحرير الأحواز; abbreviated ASMLA) is an Arab nationalist insurgent group that advocates for a separate Arab state in Khuzestan Province from Iran. It is classified as a terrorist group by the Iranian government.
History
In 1999, Habib Jabr al-Ka'bi established the ASMLA in order to pursuit the political struggle for the independence of Ahwaz (Khuzistan).
On 12 June 2005, the ASMLA took responsibility for setting off four bombs, killing 8 people and injuring 75.
On 24 January 2006, the ASMLA set off two bombs in Ahwaz, killing 9 people and injuring 46. The first bomb went off at 9:30 AM outside Saman Bank. The second bomb went off at 10:00 AM outside the government's environmental agency building. Iran attributed the explosions to the "occupiers of Iraq", but the ASMLA claimed responsibility the next day on 25 January. The Iranian government arrested fifty suspects for involvement with the bombings.
On 16 May 2015, the ASMLA claimed responsibility for an attack on an Iranian government office in Susangerd.
On 3 January 2017, the militant wing of the ASMLA, the Brigades of the Martyrs Al-Nasser Mohiuddin, claimed to have blown up two oil pipelines in western Khuzestan province; the claim was denied by the Iranian government in Tehran, which maintained that there was no unrest in its Arab population. The ASMLA declared that the targeted pipelines had been completely destroyed, inflicting "major damage and heavy fuel losses." Following the attack, one of the field commanders of the Mohiuddin Brigade stated that 2017 would be different from previous years, as the movement had prepared a precise, specific plan of significant srikes against the vital, sensitive economic center of the "Persian Enemy."