Salah al-Din Brigade or 51 Brigade in Popular Mobilization Forces It is a Sunni armed group that fights alongside Shiite groups, supported by Iran, that was created to fight ISIS and was formed specifically for the battle of Mosul (2016–17).[1][2] The matter began in 2014, when Yazan received a call from Baghdad asking him to meet with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and he had obtained permission from the Popular Mobilization Command to begin forming the first Sunni faction within the ranks of the Shiite factions.[3][4][5]