The group was composed of Sunni Arab volunteers, mainly coming from Iraq and commanded by Iraqi Fawzi al-Qawuqji.

It was established, when Al-Qawuqji resigned his commission in the Iraqi army and his position at the Royal Military College to lead approximately fifty armed guerrillas into Mandatory Palestine.

[2] In August 1936, al-Qawuqji commanded about 200 volunteers from Iraq, Syria, Transjordan, and the Samaria region of Palestine.

The military performance of al-Qawuqji's troops became hampered by internal dissensions and animosity between him and Grand Mufti Husseini, the Arab Higher Committee, and the Mufti's kinsman Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, who commanded forces that were active in the area around Jerusalem.

On 26 October 1936, al-Qawuqji crossed the Jordan River with his troops into Transjordan.