Army of the Caliphate

The Army of the Caliphate is the armed force of the Caliphate, a Muslim extremist terrorist group that is a self-declared government. The Army of the Caliphate is very well armed and trained, having captured large parts of Syria and fending off several Abbudin counterattacks against it. The Army of the Caliphate invades Abbudin with the goal of "liberating" Abbudin from Al-Fayeed rule in Season 2. Under the leadership of Abu Omar and with the assistance of Ihab Rashid, an Abbudin terrorist forced into exile, the Army of the Caliphate successfully overruns an Abbudin military garrison and captures a village in Abbudin before attacking and capturing Ma'an. The Army of the Caliphate's forces are easily distinguishable by the crimson flag they fly.

Season 2
The Army of the Caliphate is first mentioned and shown in Episode Five "Viper in the Palace." Ihab Rashid and

Zamira, intending to flee to Amsterdam, are instead kidnapped by operatives of the Caliphate and brought to the Caliphate's capitol city of Raqqa, Syria. There they are greeted by Abu Omar, who explains to Ihab he wants to liberate Abbudin from the apostate Al-Fayeeds. Despite Ihab's disapproval of the Caliphate's extreme, brutal and cruel methods, he eventually agrees to aid Omar in invading Abbudin with the encouragement of Zamira. The Army of the Caliphate first overruns the Kassab Road Garrison in Abbudin, looting the armory and massacring the soldiers. Now well armed the Army intercepts a car carrying Daliyah, a German scientist and an Abbudin military escort while moving to capture Tal Jiza. The Army executes the Abbudin military escort and the German scientist in front of the entire village but spares Daliyah. In the village Ihab declares all men ages 15-50 will be recruited into the Army of the Caliphate as they prepare to invade Ma'an. The Abbudin military launches a a counterattack against the Army, sending four helicopters to destroy the roads leading into and out of Tal Jiza to trap the Army of the Caliphate there. However the Army shoots down three helicopters and forces the fourth to flee, resulting in a Caliphate victory. The Army then takes Daliyah with them as they prepare to depart Tal Jiza for Ma'an.

The Army of the Caliphate successfully captures Ma'an after a few days of intense fighting with the Abbudin military, which proves unable to stop the Caliphate's advance. This victory leaves the Caliphate in control of a major city as well as most of Abbudin's oil fields. In Ma'an they carry out executions of all Al-Fayeed collaborators, ranging from soldiers to refinery managers. However they also encounter resistance, particularly from the Banu Zahra tribe.

The Caliphate also encounters stiff resistance from a group known as the Red Hand, led by a man known as Khalil (actually Bassam Al-Fayeed). The Red Hand successfully freed a group of Banu Zahra prisoners and killed a large amount of Caliphate soldiers sent to arrest the Christian families of Ma'an. Khalil (Bassam) also rescues Daliyah from the house Abu Omar, who had been holding her as a sex-slave/wife. Unfortunately while rescuing her he also is forced to kill Zamira, something that causes him great grief and Ihab Rashid great rage.

The Caliphate eventually discovers the Red Hand's base after torturing a confession out of a captured spy and launched an attack. This attack was successful and killed numerous Red Hand fighters as well as forcing the rest to scatter and regroup.

Despite their limited success the Red Hand manages to capture the Caliphate's main anti-aircraft battery in Ma'an and holds it long enough for Abbudin military reinforcements to arrive. This forces the Caliphate to retreat from Ma'an and eventually flee Abbudin in defeat.