Iraqi PM decrees full integration of PMF into Iraqi forces

A July 31 deadline has been set for all Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) paramilitaries to integrate into the Iraqi army, said the Iraqi Prime Minister in a

A July 31 deadline has been set for all Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) paramilitaries to integrate into the Iraqi army, said the Iraqi Prime Minister in a statement on Monday, reining them in to centralized control.

“All Hashd al-Shaabi forces will work as an inseparable part of the armed forces. All rules applied to the armed forces will be applied to them, unless special letters decree otherwise,” read the first section of a decree released by Adil Abdul Mahdi on Monday evening.

Formally incorporated into Iraq’s armed forces back in 2016 following a parliament bill, the forces will work under the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi armed forces – the Prime Minister – and Falih Fayadh, current National Security advisor and head of the Hashd al-Shaabi Commission, an authority to oversee the groups who was appointed by the PM.

The almost entirely Shia PMF paramilitaries were formed in 2014 based on a fatwa (religious decree) by Ayatollah Sistani, as ISIS began looming uncomfortably close to Baghdad.