Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi not part of hold force for Mosul, to be stationed outside city

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--Iraq’s Joint Command announced that the mainly Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi is not part of a proposed hold force to restore order in the liberated east side of Mosul, as the army is tasked with keeping the ground  in partnership with the Nineveh police.

Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), would instead be responsible for areas outside Mosul.

“The mission to hold the ground inside the eastern districts of the city of Mosul has now been tasked to the Iraqi army, in partnership with the Nineveh police,”  Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander for the Nineveh Operations, said in a statement on Sunday.

"As for the Hashd al-Shaabi from the people of Nineveh, their places of presence will be outside the districts of the left coast, in areas and villages which would be safe, and away from the contact point with the enemy,” Lt. Ge. Yarallah asserted.

Iraqi and commanders of the global coalition against ISIS revealed last week that a hold force had been formed to maintain “peace and security” in Mosul, after the Iraqi forces declared the “full” liberation of the eastern half of the city earlier in the month, with ISIS still in complete control of the western half.

Coalition spokesperson Col. John Dorrian told Rudaw TV on Friday that the force will be deployed in the coming days. 

Both Yahya Rasoul, spokesperson for the Iraqi defense ministry, and Yarallah said last week that the “Hashd al-Shaabi from the people of Nineveh” will also be part of the hold force inside Mosul.

The force will be headed by the commander of the 16th Division who will command and control the east side of the city, Maj. Gen. Joe Martin, commander of coalition ground forces in Iraq, said in a press briefing on Wednesday.