Amal grew strong with the support of, and through its ties with, Syria[16] and the 300,000 Shi'a internal refugees from southern Lebanon after the Israeli bombings in the early 1980s.

Amal's practical objectives were to gain greater respect for Lebanon's Shi'ite population and the allocation of a larger share of governmental resources for the Shi'ite-dominated southern part of the country.

After the War of the Camps, Amal fought a bloody battle against rival Shi'a group Hezbollah for control of Beirut, which provoked Syrian military intervention.

Harakat al-Mahrumin (حركة المحرومين | The Movement of the Dispossessed) was established by Imam Musa al-Sadr and member of parliament Hussein el-Husseini in 1974.

Amal, despite having tanks, artillery and support from the Lebanese army’s 6th Brigade, failed in its objective of dislodging PLO fighters from the refugee camps and was left significantly weakened.

Assisted by Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) gendarmes they immediately closed over fifty militia “offices” and banned the carrying of weapons in public.

[22] In April 1988, Amal launched an all-out assault on Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, which became known as the War of Brothers.

In 1974, the Harakat al-Mahrumin (Movement of the Deprived)[26] was established by al-Sadr and member of parliament Hussein el-Husseini to attempt to reform the Lebanese system.

While acknowledging its support base to be the "traditionally under-represented politically and economically disadvantaged" Shi'a community,[27] it aimed, according to Palmer-Harik, to seek social justice for all deprived Lebanese.

The movement's militia was secretly established on 20 January 1975 with the help of the Palestinian Fatah, who provided weapons and training at their Beqaa facilities.

The formation of Amal was revealed in July that year when an accidental explosion of a landmine at one of the Fatahland camps near Baalbek killed over 60 Shia trainees, which caused considerable embarrassment to Fatah and forced Al-Sadr to admit publicly the militia's existence.

By the mid-1980s however, the movement totaled 14,000–16,000 militiamen trained and armed by Syria, of which 3,000–6,000 were full-time uniformed regulars[32] and the remaining 10,000 part-time male and female irregulars.

[33][34][35] Commanded by the Shi'ite Colonel (later, Major general) Abd al-Halim Kanj,[36][37] and headquartered at the Henri Chihab Barracks at Jnah in the south-western Chyah suburb of West Beirut, this formation was subsequently enlarged by absorbing Shia deserters from other Army units, which included the 97th Battalion from the Seventh Brigade.

[33][34][38] Outside the Lebanese Capital, Amal militia forces operating in Baalbek and Hermel received support from certain elements of the mainly Shi'ite First Brigade stationed in the Beqaa Valley.

Several models of handguns were also used, including Colt Cobra .38 Special snub-nose revolvers,[43] Tokarev TT-33, CZ 75, M1911A1, FN P35 and MAB PA-15 pistols.

The collapse of the Fourth Brigade in February 1984 also allowed Amal to seize an additional number of Panhard AML-90 armoured cars,[65] AMX-13 light tanks, and AMX-VCI and M113 APCs.

[66][67][68][69][70] In addition, the well-equipped Beirut-based Amal regular forces also operated 30 or 50 Syrian-loaned T-55A MBTs,[61][71][72][46] and two or three ex-PLO ZSU-23-4M1 Shilka SPAAG tracked vehicles seized from the Al-Mourabitoun in April 1985,[73][74] whereas their guerrilla units fighting in the south of the country were able to add a few M113 Zelda[61][75] and M3/M9 Zahlam half-tracks[76][77] captured from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and their South Lebanon Army (SLA) proxies.

Soviet ZPU (ZPU-1, ZPU-2, ZPU-4) 14.5mm[51] and ZU-23-2 23mm Anti-Aircraft autocannons (mounted on technicals, M35A1/A2 trucks and M113 APCs)[79][80][81] were employed in both air defense and direct fire supporting roles.

[83] In addition to Syrian backing, Amal received some financial support from Libya and Iran – first by the Shah in 1975-78, replaced after 1979 by the new Islamic regime[citation needed] – and from the Lebanese Shi'ite immigrant community in West Africa.

Additional revenues came from protection rackets (Arabic: Khuwa) imposed on Shia neighborhoods[39] and from tolls levied in illegal ports such as Ouza'i in Beirut, along with Zahrani, whose harbour and the adjacent Tapline oil refinery were employed in the contraband of fuel, and Sarafand (used for smuggling imported cars and other goods), both located south of Sidon.

[84] The Movement had its own civil administration and assistance networks, gathered since the mid-1980s under the authority of the so-called 'Council of the South' (Arabic: مجلس الجنوب | Majliss al-Janoub).

Headed by Amal's vice-president Muhammad Baydoun and based at the Christian town of Maghdouché near Sidon, it was responsible for running schools, hospitals, and conducting public works on Shia areas.

Amal also run from its headquarters at Rue Hamra – located on the namesake district –, in association with Zaher el-Khatib's Toilers League a joint television service, "The Orient" (Arabic: Al-Machriq).

[84] In the summer of 1982, Husayn Al-Musawi, deputy head and official spokesman of Amal, broke with Berri over his willingness to go along with U.S. mediation in Lebanon rather than attack Israeli troops, his membership in the National Salvation Council alongside the Christians,[85] and his opposition to pledging allegiance to Ayatollah Khomeini.

[87]About 1,500 members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard or Pasdaran, arrived at the Beqaa Valley at the time and "directly contributed to ensure the survival and growth of al-Musawi's newly-created small militia," providing training, indoctrination and funding.

On April 15, 1985, Amal and the PSP attacked the Al-Mourabitoun, the main Lebanese Sunni militia and the closest ally of the PLO in Lebanon.

Palestinian forces managed to occupy the Amal-controlled town of Maghdouché on the eastern hills of Sidon to open the road to Rashidiyye.

"Under this agreement, Amal's authority over the security of southern Lebanon [is] recognized while Hizballah [is] permitted to maintain only a nonmilitary presence through political, cultural, and informational programmes.

[citation needed] Despite the order to disarm, Amal guerrilla units in the south remained in place until the final Israeli pull-out in May 2000 and the subsequent collapse of the "Security Belt".