Iraqi PM decrees full integration of PMF into Iraqi forces

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A July 31 deadline has been set for all Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) paramilitaries to integrate into the Iraqi army, said the Iraqi Prime Minister in a statement on Monday, reining them in to centralized control.

“All Hashd al-Shaabi forces will work as an inseparable part of the armed forces. All rules applied to the armed forces will be applied to them, unless special letters decree otherwise,” read the first section of a decree released by Adil Abdul Mahdi on Monday evening.

Formally incorporated into Iraq’s armed forces back in 2016 following a parliament bill, the forces will work under the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi armed forces - the Prime Minister - and Falih Fayadh, current National Security advisor and head of the Hashd al-Shaabi Commission, an authority to oversee the groups who was appointed by the PM.

The almost entirely Shiite PMF paramilitaries were formed in 2014 based on a fatwa (religious decree) by Ayatollah Sistani, the highest Shiite authority in Iraq, as Islamic State (ISIS) began looming uncomfortably close to Baghdad.

While many of the PMFs soldiers are individuals who responded to the threat of ISIS, many had fought against US forces during its occupation of Iraq, while some received Iranian training and funding. 

Each paramilitary group has its own name, with the most known among them including Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Badr Corps, and Hezbollah Iraq. 

“All other names under which the factions of Hashd al-Shaabi operated during the heroic battles that eradicated the Daesh terrorist entity will be abandoned and replaced with military terms (division, brigade, regiment, et cetera),” said the decree, while PMF members will also adopt military rankings.

Implementation of the decree looks less than certain, though, considering the extensive political influence of PMF groups.

In Iraq’s May 12, 2018 elections, a newly-formed coalition, named the Fath Alliance, won the second highest number of seats in the Iraqi parliament. The Alliance was composed of parties who each possessed their own PMF faction. Abdul-Mahdi’s decree seeks to sever these political ties “on an individual or organizational level.”  

With PMF soldiers training in centralized Iraqi military barracks, bases belonging to any faction of the PMF will be shut down, while all checkpoints, “economic offices” or interests outside the “new working framework” will be closed, the PM added.

Forces who choose not to integrate may “transform” into a political party, but they will not be allowed to carry weapons for any reason other than the protection of its offices, according to the decree.

Abdul-Mahdi has been under pressure to curb the actions of Iran-affiliated groups after a spate of rocket attacks against US military and economic targets in Iraq, with attacks carried out on ExxonMobil’s Basra headquarters and military camps where US troops are stationed, as well as a near-miss attack against the US embassy in Baghdad. Additionally, a May 14 attack on US ally Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, attributed to Iran-backed Houthis, is suspected by US officials to have been launched from Iraq.

The attacks have largely been attributed to PMF factions, some of whom have expressed support for Iran as tensions between it and the US rise. 

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