ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday praised Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s call to arms that led to the establishment of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi), though he did not mention the PMF by name. His statement came a day after the PMF held a parade in Baghdad, showing off its drones that are of top concern to United States forces in Iraq.
Iraq was facing “serious challenges,” but the order from influential Shiite cleric Sistani “stopped a terrorist monster that had terrified the whole world,” said Kadhimi.
In June 2014, when the Iraqi army was collapsing and Islamic State (ISIS) militants were advancing on Baghdad, Sistani issued a fatwa (a religious call to action) urging young Iraqis to take up arms against the group. A few days later, a loose coalition of existing militias announced the formation of the PMF. The militias were officially incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces in 2016, but some operate outside of the state’s control.
Kadhimi said the fall of Mosul and swathes of the north of the country to ISIS were due to an accumulation of harmful government policies and “state neglect of security institutions and the Iraqi army.”
He said his government is working to correct the path Iraq was on by supporting and controlling the armed forces and taking a “moderate and deliberate approach” to tackling crises and government reforms.
On Sunday, PMF-affiliated channels showed pictures of the militias parading drones on trucks through Baghdad. Abd al-Rahman al-Jazairi, a PMF leader affiliated with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, told Rudaw in May that there are Iranian-made drones in Iraq ready to be used against US combat troops.
PMF units close to Iran are widely accused of abducting and killing protesters during Iraq’s wave of anti-government unrest that began in 2019, and of targeting US and coalition personnel stationed at bases across Iraq. US Central Command commander General Kenneth McKenzie said the use of drones by armed groups in Iraq to attack military bases is concerning.
“They are resorting to this technique because they have been unable to force the Government of Iraq to require that we leave. So political pressure has not worked for them,” McKenzie said. "The threat is concerning and we will take whatever measures are necessary to defend ourselves.”
Attacks on Iraqi bases, especially those hosting US troops, have increased since the US assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in January 2020. Most of the attacks are blamed on Iranian-backed militia groups who have called for the withdrawal of US troops in the country.
Kadhimi has tried to hold the militias accountable for assassinations of protesters, but has so far failed. Last week, PMF leader Qassem Musleh was released from custody and investigation into his alleged involvement with the killing of activist Ihab al-Wazni was closed.
The PMF announced on Monday it will hold a larger parade to commemorate the seventh anniversary of its founding later in the month. PMF Chief of Staff, Abdul Aziz al-Muhammadawi, also known as Abu Fadak, supervised the preparations and directed his forces to redouble their efforts.
