ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Prominent Shiite cleric Muqada al-Sadr on Saturday called for disarming his armed faction, Saraya al-Salam, in Karbala within five days, after a deadly attack targeting a group of expelled former members, saying the perpetrators have “tarnished” his family’s name.

On Friday, a shooting in Karbala province killed one and injured another member of al-Azhariyun, an armed group which was expelled from the Sadrist Saraya al-Salam in 2024 for allegedly carrying out their own separate activities, including attacks on top Iraqi officials.

Following the attack, Saraya al-Salam on Friday announced that it had frozen the group’s activities in Karbala and closed all its bases in the Shiite holy city, calling on security forces to “strictly enforce the law in the province and punish those who use the blessed Saraya al-Salam formation as a cover for their shameful acts.”

“I and all the Sadr family are innocent of them until the Day of Judgment. They should be investigated because I do not rule out the possibility that they are terrorists, traitors, and enemies,” Sadr said in a statement on Saturday.

The cleric called for withdrawing weapons from all Saraya al-Salam military formations in Karbala within five days, the restructuring of the group and replacing all its leadership in the city within a month, withdrawing all vehicles from those involved in Friday’s attack, and publicly shaming the perpetrators by releasing their names and photos.

“Send me a list of the criminals' names so that we can take the necessary action, the first of which is to publicly shame them…for they have tarnished the reputation of the honorable Sadr family, indeed the sect, indeed the religion, and the nation,” Sadr added.

In September 2024, Sadr called for the expulsion of al-Azhariyun, calling them “impudent” and “shameless militias.”

Sadr’s decision came after the group had reportedly intercepted the convoy of Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari during a tour in Samarra city, leading to altercations with the minister’s security staff during which Shammari was injured.

Sadr has repeatedly called for limiting weapons to the state, although he has founded multiple armed factions operating outside of state control himself, including the Jaish al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army), which was founded in 2003 to confront the US occupation of Iraq and disbanded in 2008.

The group was partially revived under the name of Saraya al-Salam in 2014, which Sadr continues to lead to this day.