ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's ministry of defense said on Thursday that an explosion has occurred at a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, adding that an investigation into the incident has been launched.
“An explosion occurred in an ammunition depot belonging to the PMF inside the Mansouriyah camp,” the ministry said in a statement, citing “preliminery information” ruling out any sustained casualties as the result of the blast and the “subsequent fire.”
The statement said swift action prevented the fire from spreading and announced the launch of an investigation to "determine the circumstances of the incident and the causes of the explosion," with the results to be disclosed once finalized.
The PMF is a state-sponsored military force that was founded in 2014 by a fatwa from Iraq’s highest Shiite theocratic authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, against the threat posed by the Islamic State (ISIS) at the time.
Nevertheless, due to overlapping ties between some of PMF-affiliated armed groups and the Iran-aligned “Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI)”, the Iraqi leadership has found itself under immense US pressure to disarm or fold into Iraq’s official security apparatus.
The pressure was significantly exacerbated during the nearly six week-long war that involved Iran, the United States, and Israel.
Since the outbreak of the war in late February toward announcing the ceasefire between the US and Iran in early April, the IRI - siding with Iran as a part of its “Axis of Resistance” - has claimed more than 750 attacks against US bases and interests in Iraq and across the region.
Furthermore, it said that they have suffered more than 350 casualties, including 30 deaths, as a result of US strikes against their bases.
The new Iraqi government, under the leadership of the prime minister Ali al-Zaidi, has made progress in disarming and reorganizing the PMF.
Prominent armed groups such as Saraya al-Salam, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and Kata'ib al-Imam Ali have already announced their compliance with Zaidi’s decision.
Yet, several groups, including Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, and Saraya Awliya al-Dam, have rejected disarmament, citing the continuity of regional conflicts and the presence of US forces in Iraq.
