Free Iraqi Army

The Free Iraqi Army (الجيش العراقي الحر, Al-Jayš Al-‘Irāqī Al-Ḥurr, FIA) is a Sunni militant group formed in the western Sunni-majority provinces of Iraq from Iraqi supporters of the Free Syrian Army rebels fighting in the Syrian civil war. The group aims to overthrow the Shiite dominated government of Iraq, believing that they will gain support in this from Syria should the rebels be successful in overthrowing Bashar al-Assad. An Iraqi counterterror spokesman has denied this, saying that the name is merely being used by Al Qaida in Iraq to "attract the support of the Iraqi Sunnis by making use of the strife going on in Syria."

Aside from Anbar Province, the FIA reportedly has a presence in Fallujah, along the Syrian border near the town of Al-Qaim, and in Mosul in the north of Iraq. A recruiting commander for the group told a reporter from The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon that the group is opposed to both Al-Qaeda in Iraq and their opponents in the Sahwa militia. The same commander claimed that the group receives financial support from cross-border tribal extensions and Sunni sympathizers in the Gulf states of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

On 4 February 2013, Wathiq al-Batat of the Shia militant group Hezbollah in Iraq, announced the formation of the Mukhtar Army to fight against al-Qaeda and the Free Iraqi Army.

Links to al-Qaeda
Despite the groups denial of links to al-Qaeda, the group has been accused of being affiliated with the group. These accusations of links with both al-Qaeda and Ba'athists led to a Najaf Shiite figure associated with the State of Law Coalition issuing a fatwa against supplying the group with weapons.