Popular Mobilization Forces
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) (Arabic: قوات الحشد الشعبي, romanized: Quwwāt al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī),[35] also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iraqi state-sponsored paramilitary network composed of about 67 armed factions that are mostly Shia Muslim groups backed by Iran, but also include Sunni Muslim, Christian, and Yazidi groups.[36][37][38][39] The Popular Mobilization Units were formed in 2014 and fought in nearly every major Iraqi battle against Islamic State.[40] Many of its main militias, in particular the Shias, trace their origins to the "Special Groups", Iranian-sponsored Shi'ite groups which previously fought an insurgency against the United States and the Coalition forces, as well as a sectarian conflict against Sunni Jihadist and Ba'athist insurgents.[36][41] It has been called the new Iraqi Republican Guard after it was fully reorganized in early 2018 by its then-Commander Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq from 2014 to 2018, who issued "regulations to adapt the situation of the Popular Mobilization fighters".[42]
Popular Mobilization Forces
15 June 2014 – present[1]
230,000 (PMF claim)[3]
Falih Al-Fayyadh
(Chairman of Popular Mobilization Committee)
See Structure
15 June 2014–present[1]
See Structure
International
In Syria:
Aleppo Governorate
Deir ez-Zor Governorate
Factions:
Shia Islamism
Islamic unity (claimed)[6][7]
Anti-Sunnism (claimed)[8][9]
Anti-West[10]
Anti-LGBT[11]
State allies
Non-state allies
- Islamic Resistance in Iraq
Hezbollah[17]
Peshmerga (only against ISIS)
Islamic Dawa Party (Nouri al-Maliki)[18]
Syrian Democratic Forces (only against ISIS)[19]
February 14 Youth Coalition[20][21]
Houthis (alleged, denied by PMF)[22]- Hezbollah Al-Hejaz[23]
Sinjar Resistance Units[24]
State opponents
Non-state opponents
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
GMCIR (until December 2014)
Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order[26]
Al-Nusra Front (until 28 January 2017)
Free Syrian Army[27]
Islamic Front (until 2015)[28]
White Flags[29]
Ansar al-Islam[30]
People's Mujahedin of Iran[31]
Certain pro-Iran militant groups only:
Some of its component militias which are pro-Iran are considered terrorist groups by some states and have been accused of promoting sectarian violence.[43][44][45] Pro-Iran organizations in the PMF include the Badr Organisation, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Kata'ib Hezbollah, Kata’ib al-Imam Ali, Saraya Khorasani, etc.[46] During the 2019–2021 Iraqi protests, the pro-Iran groups were responsible for killing and wounding large numbers of protesters and activists.[47][48][49][50][51] Pro-Iran PMF groups have also fought against pro-Sistani and Sadrist PMF groups, and their increasing rivalry erupted into violent clashes in 2022.[52][53] Since 2020, Iranian-backed PMF groups have launched attacks against American and allied forces in the region, claiming them under the name "Islamic Resistance in Iraq".[54][55][56]
Name[edit]
With regard to the official native name, the Arabic word الشعبي (ash-Shaʿbī) translates as "people's" or "popular", as referred to the people; the Arabic word الحشد (al-Ḥashd) translates as "mobilization", as in the group of people mobilized rather than the process of mobilization. In other contexts, al-hashd may translate as other terms such as "crowd", "horde", "throng", "gathering".
The PMF trace their origins to the so-called Special Groups, a US term to designate groups of the Iraqi insurgency which were Shiite, supported and funded by the Iranian Quds Force, as opposed to Ba'atahist loyalist or radical sunni salafi jihadist insurgents. The Special Groups fought both the US-led Coalition forces, but also the afforementioned Ba'ath and sunni insurgent in a sectarian conflict.[41] Originally, there were seven forces in the PMF, which had been operating with Nouri al-Maliki's support since early 2014.[37] These were:
According to Faleh A. Jabar and Renad Mansour for the Carnegie Middle East Center, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki used these forces to combat the emergence of ISIL and maintain his influence in predominantly Sunni areas.[37]
The People's Mobilization Forces (PMF) were formed by the Iraqi government on 15 June 2014 after top Iraqi Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani's non-sectarian[37] fatwa on "Sufficiency Jihad" on 13 June.[1] The fatwa called for defending Iraqi cities, particularly Baghdad, and to participate in the counter-offensive against ISIL, following the Fall of Mosul on 10 June 2014.[1][62] The forces brought together a number of Shia militias, most of which receive direct support from Iran, along with a small number of Sunni tribesmen by uniting existing militias under the "People's Mobilization Committee" of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior in June 2014.[63] The forces would fall under the umbrella of the state's security services and within the legal frameworks and practices of the Ministry of Interior. On 19 December 2016, Iraqi President Fuad Masum approved a law passed by parliament in November that incorporated PMU in the country's armed forces. The pro-Assad website Al-Masdar News reports that, with this incorporation, the PMU are now subject to the supreme commander of the national armed forces and will no longer be affiliated to any political or social group.[64] However, many of these irregulars have continued to operate independently of the Iraqi state.[65]
On 21 March 2017, the PMU announced the launch of a special forces course, in order to create a Special Forces Division. The training program covered a variety of missions with direction from the Iraqi Special Operations Forces.[66] On December 11, 2017, the PMU began to be entirely consolidated under the Iraqi Armed Forces, following a call by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to integrate.[40] However, as late as May 2018, this integration had yet to take place, and PMF members remained without the same wages and privileges as soldiers in the regular Iraqi Armed Forces.[67]
According to some sources, the Popular Mobilization Forces have made a fundamental difference on the battlefield, as they have undermined the superiority of ISIL at the level of guerrilla warfare, as well as at the level of the psychological operations.[68]
Terrorism[edit]
Kata'ib Hizballah, one of the forces of the PMF, is listed by Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency as a terrorist organization.[143] The United Arab Emirates also classifies it as terrorist.[144] Kata'ib Hizballah was designated a terrorist entity in 2009 by the United States.[145] Its leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was also designated a terrorist.[146] In March 2019, U.S. designated Harakat al-Nujaba and its leader Akram al-Ka'abi Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). In 2020, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, a powerful Iran-backed militia, part of the PMF, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States.[147] In November 2023, U.S. added PMF militia Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.[148] In June 2024, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya was designated as a terrorist organization, following several attacks on U.S. bases in the region including the Tower 22 drone attack.[149]
Involvement in 2019–2021 Iraqi protests[edit]
During the 2019–2021 Iraqi protests, which called for the end of the sectarian political system, some militias associated with PMF took part in the protests by using live bullets, marksmen, hot water, hot pepper gas and tear gas against protesters, leading to over 1,000 deaths and over 30,000 injuries.[150][151][152][153]
United Nations: In a 2015 speech of its Special Representative and head of the (UNAMI), Jan Kubis mentioned the Popular Mobilization Forces, saying that the Iraqi security forces, with the critical support of the Popular Mobilization Forces, tribal Sunni volunteers, and the International Coalition, have yet to significantly change the situation on the ground"[163]
UN Assistance Mission in Iraq
CJTF–OIR: In 2016, Commander of the Lt Gen. Stephen J. Townsend described the PMF militias as "remarkably disciplined" allies since he arrived. He added that the PMF could make Iraq more secure—if they become a national guard-like force, and not a "puppet" of Iran.[164]
CJTF-OIR
American-led airstrikes[edit]
Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, a member of the PMF, stated that their forces were bombed by US planes on 7 August 2017, in Al Anbar Governorate near the Iraq–Syria border and that Hashd al-Shaabi forces suffered many casualties.[165] The Baghdad-based spokesman of the U.S.-led coalition, Army Col. Ryan Dillon, dismissed the allegation, saying on Twitter that no coalition airstrikes took place in the area at the time. According to the militia's deputy, Ahmed al-Maksousi, they were hit by artillery fire in Syria's Jamouna area, about 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles) from the Iraqi border. Along with 40 killed, many militiamen were wounded, al-Maksousi added.[166]
On 22 August 2019, The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), blamed the United States and Israel for a number of bombings on their warehouses and bases. The group accused the US of permitting Israeli drones to join its forces for executing attacks on Iraqi territory. The group pledged to counter any attack in the future.[167] On 23 August, a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Kazem al-Haeri called for attacks against US troops in Iraq, "the presence of any US military force in Iraq is forbidden (haram) under any title: military training, advice or the rationale of fighting terrorism".[168]
On 29 December 2019, the United States bombed the headquarters of PMF member Kata'ib Hezbollah near Al-Qa'im, killing 25 militiamen.[169]
On 3 January 2020, PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, PMF PR head Mohammed Redha al-Jabri,[170] and the Quds Force head, Qasem Soleimani, were among those killed in an assassination near Baghdad Airport.[171][172]
On 12 March 2020, the U.S. launched air raids against five Kata'ib Hezbollah weapons storage bases across Iraq in retaliation for the 2020 Camp Taji attacks.[173]
On 25 February 2021, a U.S. air raid killed one and wounded four while targeting PMF facilities on the Iraqi-Syrian border in Syria's eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The facilities were used by PMF forces combatting ISIL in collaboration with the Iraqi and Syrian governments. U.S. officials described the PMF as an "Iranian-backed militia" and the air strike as a retaliation for purported Iranian military aggression against U.S. facilities in Iraq, while Iranian officials denied involvement. Iraqi officials repudiated any connection between the PMF and the insurgents who previously attacked U.S. facilities. The Pentagon asserted that the air raid followed consultation with the Iraqi government and other partners in the region,[174] but the Iraqi military denied providing the U.S. with information regarding locations within Syria.[175]
On 27 June 2021, U.S. forces bombed two locations after an increase in drone attacks. One location was a drone-making facility and the other a conventional weapons exchange depot. Four members of Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction were claimed to have been killed in the action.[176]
On 4 January 2024, U.S. airstrikes on PMF's logistical headquarters killed two people, including the organization's deputy head of operations in Baghdad, Mushtaq Talib al-Saeedi, and wounded five others.[177]
On 2 February 2024, U.S. airstrikes targeted the headquarters of the PMF in Akashat in Anbar Governorate, killing 16 fighters and wounding 25.[178][179]
