Datasets
Shia Militia Events
Dated, geolocated events involving 15 Iran-aligned militias and claim banners, in three categories (attacks and clashes; money and logistics; US counteractions).
Scope
One row per event (one attack, clash, designation, indictment, or other dated action).
- Events run from 1989-01-01 to 2026-10-01.
- Rows from the UCDP Candidate Events Dataset (2026) are preliminary; UCDP may revise or drop them before its annual GED release.
- Rows naming the Sanaa authorities in UCDP coding are listed under Ansar Allah (Houthis); that attribution is MEF's reading of UCDP coding, stated in each row's summary.
- Coordinates are as precise as the geo_precision field states; town-level points mark the town center.
- UCDP GED and Candidate rows are CC BY 4.0 (Uppsala Conflict Data Program); cite "UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset" version 26.1 or "UCDP Candidate Events Dataset" (preliminary) when using them. US government records are public domain.
Codebook
| Field | Type | Definition | Allowed Values | Source | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
event_id | integer | Stable row identifier within this dataset. | 0 to 8111 | MEF | 8105 |
date | date (YYYY-MM-DD) | Date of the event. Where the source gives no event date, the date of the record. | 1989-01-01 to 2026-10-01 | Source record | 1989-01-01 |
type | text | Top-level event category. | Attacks and clashes; Counteractions; Money and logistics | MEF classification | Attacks and clashes |
subtype | text | Event subcategory. | 23 values, for example Attack on US forces, State FTO designation, UCDP non-state armed conflict | MEF classification | UCDP non-state armed conflict |
groups | text list (semicolon separated) | Militias or claim banners the source record names. | 15 values: Ansar Allah (Houthis); Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq; Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya; Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba; Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, group not named; Islamic Resistance in Iraq (claim banner); Kata'ib Hezbollah; Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada; Kata'ib al-Imam Ali; Lebanese Hezbollah; Liwa Fatemiyoun; Liwa Zainabiyoun; Saraya al-Ashtar; Saraya al-Mukhtar; al-Mahdi Army (Jaysh al-Mahdi) | Source record | Lebanese Hezbollah |
place | text | Place as named or geocoded. | Text | Source record, Natural Earth | Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon |
country | text | Country of the place. | Country name | Source record | Lebanon |
latitude | decimal degrees | Latitude of the plotted point (WGS 84). | -34.6033 to 58.2494 | UCDP or MEF geocode | 33.8719 |
longitude | decimal degrees | Longitude of the plotted point (WGS 84). | -119.291 to 171.194 | UCDP or MEF geocode | 35.5097 |
geo_precision | text | How precise the point is. | For example UCDP: exact location; town or city | UCDP or MEF | UCDP: exact location |
summary | text | One-sentence description of the event in MEF wording. | Text | MEF, from the source record | Non-state armed conflict: Amal and Hezbollah. UCDP best estimate of deaths: 8. |
source | text | Name of the source record series. | 31 values, for example UCDP GED 26.1, CENTCOM, Federal Register citations | Source record | UCDP GED 26.1 |
source_url | URL | Link to the source record or release file. | http or https URL | Source record | https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/ged/ged261-csv.zip |
source_title | text | Title of the source document when it has one. | Text or blank | Source record | (blank) |
ucdp_id | integer | UCDP event identifier for UCDP rows. | 9 to 642206, or blank | UCDP | 186578 |
date_note | text | Note when the date or location needed a reading of the source. | Text or blank | MEF | (blank) |
User Guide
How to Cite
Middle East Forum, Shia Militia Events (dataset), Shia Militia Tracker, accessed October 13, 2026, https://products.meforum.org/datasets/militia-events/
Cite the underlying government or UCDP record from the row's source field when quoting a single entry.
How Often It Updates
Rebuilt with the Shia Militia Tracker on its daily refresh; UCDP rows change when UCDP issues a new GED or Candidate release. This file was generated on October 13, 2026.
Corrections
Report an error to info@meforum.org with the row identifier.