Quds Force - History

History

The Quds Force was created during the Iran-Iraq war as a special unit from the broader IRGC forces. After the war, Quds Force continued to support the Kurds fighting Saddam Hussein, during the war it had helped the Kurds fight the Iraqi military. The Quds also expanded their operations into other areas, most notably aiding Ahmed Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance against the Soviets during the Soviet war in Afghanistan and then helping Massoud after the war against Taliban forces. There were also reports of the Quds forces lending support to Bosnian Muslims fighting the Bosnian Serbs during the Yugoslav wars.

According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad helped fund the Quds Force while he was stationed at the Ramazan garrison near Iraq during the late 1980s.