The Islamic Military Alliance (IMA), officially the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT)
(Arabic: باهرإلا ةبراحمل يركسعلا يمالسإلا فلاحتلا), alternative translation Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, is an intergovernmental counter-terrorist
alliance of countries in the Muslim world, united around
military intervention against ISIL and other counterterrorist activities.
Its creation was first announced by
Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Minister
of Defense, on 15 December 2015.
The alliance was
to have a joint operations center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
When the coalition was announced there were 34 members. Additional countries joined and the number of
members reached 41 when Oman joined in December
On 6 January 2017, Pakistan's former Chief of
Army Staff, General (Retd.) Raheel Sharif was named
the IMA’s first Commander-in-Chief.
1 # HISTORY AND OBJECTIVES
The IMA has stated that its primary objective is to protect
Muslim countries from all terrorist groups and terrorist
organizations irrespective of their sect and name.
The IMA affirmed that it would operate in line with the
United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) provisions on terrorism.
At the press conference to launch the IMA, Mohammad
bin Salman said it would “coordinate” efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan. He
said, “There will be international coordination with major powers and international organisations ... in terms of
operations in Syria and Iraq.”
To date, all members are countries with Sunni-dominated
governments. The alliance does not include any countries
with Shia-dominated governments, such as Iran, Iraq and
Syria.
According to a Euronews report, some analysts
see formation of the alliance as part of Saudi Arabian efforts to take the leading role in the Middle East and the
Muslim world, in rivalry with Iran.
In March 2016 it was reported that Saudi Arabia had
asked General Raheel Sharif, Pakistan's Chief of Army
Staff, to become commander-in-chief of the Islamic Military Alliance once he had retired from the Pakistan Army
at the end of 2016.
In January 2017 it was reported
that Sharif had set three conditions for taking the post,
one of which was that Iran be included in the Islamic Military Alliance.
However he didn't signed the contract
yet.
2 # MEMBERS
Saudi Arabia’s original announcement of the alliance on
15 December 2015 listed 34 countries as participants,
each also a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and forming about 60% of all OIC member states. Although included, some countries have opted
not to assist militarily while others are in ongoing discussions on whether or not to join the IMA.
These countries have offered to provide
military assistance if needed.
2.1 Prospective additional members
At the time of the original announcement, more than ten
other Islamic countries, including Indonesia (the world’s
largest Muslim nation), had expressed their support for
the alliance, and Azerbaijan was discussing joining the
alliance.
In January 2017 Azerbaijan said that
joining was “not on the agenda”.
Tajikistan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia confirmed that Tajikistan is seriously studying the possibility of joining.
The following countries have discussed membership, but have
not joined the alliance as yet.
3 # Commanders-in-Chief
The appointment of Raheel Sharif as Commander-inChief is still not clear. Pakistani newspapers reported
discussion on the matter in the Pakistani senate. It is still
controversial.
4 # MILITARY STRENGTH
Pakistan Armed Forces has about 1.5 million military
personnel with 643,000+ active army personnel with
3,000 main battle tanks, an air force with 1,032 aircraft,
and a navy with 63 surface ships, 101 aircraft, and 8
submarines.
It has the sixth largest standing armed forces in the world and largest armed forces in the Muslim world. Pakistan is the only member in the alliance
with nuclear weapons.
Saudi Arabia Armed Forces has one of the best-funded
defence forces in the Middle East. The kingdom spends
25% of its budget, or about $88 billion,
on its military. In terms of manpower, Saudi Arabia has about
688,000 active personnel in its military, with 300,000
army troops.
It also has more than 200,000 men in its
national guard.
Turkish Armed Forces
base, producing platforms such as the Altay main battle
tank, the MILGEM corvettes, the TAI/AgustaWestland
T129 attack helicopter, the Bayraktar unmanned aerial
vehicle and the TAI TFX 5th Generation Air superiority fighter.
With Turkey’s participation and industrial
know-how, the alliance intends to create inter-polarity
and network centricity.
United Arab Emirates's Union Defence Force
the highly advanced F-16 fighters, namely F-16 E/F Block
The United Arab Emirates Air Force has also
been involved in a series of anti-terrorists operations in
Syria.
5 # REACTIONS
Bangladesh
The country confirmed its membership in a joint statement by the founder nations that stated “a duty to protect
the Islamic nation from the evils of all terrorist groups and
organizations whatever their sect and name which wreak
death and corruption on earth and aim to terrorize the
innoccent.”
Egypt
Germany
der Leyen welcomed the alliance against terrorism but
also stressed that it should be a part of the Vienna process
involving all countries fighting against IS like the U.S.,
Europe, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, but also including
Iran and China.
Malaysia
Hishammuddin Hussein expressed support for the
alliance, but ruled out any military support from
Malaysia.
Pakistan
the initiative; its government confirmed its participation
and stated that the country is waiting for further details in
order to decide the extent of its participation in the different activities of the alliance. Although the Commander
in Chief of the IMAFT, Gen Raheel Sharif only agreed
to command upon the condition that Iran must be the part of this Alliance
Turkey
called it the “best response to those who are trying to associate terror and Islam”.
United States
by the United States, with U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash
Carter saying, “We look forward to learning more about
what Saudi Arabia has in mind in terms of this coalition.
But in general it appears it is very much in line with something we've been urging for quite some time, which is
greater involvement in the campaign to combat ISIL by
Sunni Arab countries.
6 # CRITICSM
Due to the dominance of the alliance by states having
majority Sunni Muslim populations, it has been called
“a sectarian coalition" by Hakeem Azameli, a member
of the Security and Defense Commission in the Iraqi
parliament.
However, Oman, an Ibadi-dominant country and friend
of Iran has joined the alliance. Lebanon, an ally of Iran
with half of its Muslim population being Shia, has also
supported the alliance. Other countries who are part of
the alliance or support it that have cordial or friendly relations with Iran include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kuwait,
Libya, Pakistan and Indonesia. More likely, the absence
of Iran and Iraq from the alliance is due to the political
tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
