KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region – Members of the Shiite militia group known as the People’s Mobilization Forces, or PMF, have announced the completion of their fourth training course in the Kirkuk area. An estimated 400 fighters have been trained in the use of heavy weapons and other tactics since the start of the first round of the program, according to a Rudaw reporter. PMF officials on the Kirkuk front said there was close coordination with the Peshmerga, adding that the Kurdish forces were not opposed to the military training courses. Shiite militias have one large military base as well as five smaller near Kirkuk. The PMF continually trains its fighters on weapons and resistance tactics, such as defusing land mines. The Shiite militia training areas are far from the ISIS frontlines. The PMF has announced the trainings will not be done in secrecy and has invited the media to take part. “Some media believe if we enter into Kirkuk, a fight will break out,” Irfan Abdul Muhsin, deputy commander of the PMF forces in Kirkuk, told Rudaw. “But we will protect Kirkuk and Iraq,” he said.
