SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — The head of the monitory committee in Iraq’s parliament says the body has rejected the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militias’ application for nearly $800 million for the reminder of the year after a federal court intervened and dismissed the application.
Ahmad Rashid said the court rejected the case since the Hashd al-Shaabi had already been granted over 1.1 trillion Iraqi dinar (about $1 billion) in the national budget for the same period.
“This is in fact five times bigger than what the Peshmerga forces receive, though they are almost twice as large as the Hashd,” Rashid told Rudaw.
According to Hoshiar Abdulla, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s defense committee, the Hashd al-Shaabi commands over 50,000 fighters while the Peshmerga have over 100,000.
“Iraq’s own army is apparently a failure and the international coalition forces are reluctant to cooperate with Shiite militias since they are largely directed by Tehran,” Abdulla told Rudaw.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has implicitly been critical of the Shiite militias, fearing future conflicts over disputed territories in Iraq’s south and central regions.
Last month’s deadly stand off in Khurmatu between the two sides sent shockwaves in Kurdistan, which has long questioned the rapid rise of the Hashd al-Shaabi now battling ISIS virtually on behalf of Iraq’s national army.
“They have access to almost all the military equipment the Iraqi army has in its arsenal, both light and heavy weapons,” said Kurdish lawmaker Shaxawan Abdulla, who is also a member of Iraq’s defense committee.
“We are really doubtful that they will ever return the armaments, which will indeed become problematic in the future,” he added.
The militia’s growing recruitment in Shiite Kurdish areas such as the disputed province of Khanaqeen in the south has not been welcomed by Kurdish parties.
“There should be some limitations and regulations as to how many they can recruit,” said Abdulla.
Rudaw spoke to one Kurdish commander with the Hashd al-Shaabi who confirmed that they were planning to recruit more fighters among Shiite Kurds in the Khanaqin area.
“Our Brigade has 3,150 soldiers who are entirely Kurds,” said Abu Muntazar, the commander of a Hashd al-Shaabi brigade in Khanaqin who also added that more than 400 people in other areas had applied to join the unit, which offers regular monthly payments.
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