Iraqi forces, Shia militia agree to jointly secure Nineveh Plain following violent protests
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi army, police forces, and the Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), will jointly manage the security of the Nineveh Plain, according to a senior Iraqi official who spoke on Tuesday after protests erupted against the Iraqi government’s order for the militias to withdraw from the area.
Prime Minister of Iraq Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who is also Commander-in-Chief, recently ordered the Hashd al-Shaabi‘s Brigade 30 to withdraw from the Nineveh Plain and have Iraqi army and federal police forces take over security in the area.
The order led supporters of the militia group on Monday to block the main roads linking Mosul to Erbil and attack Iraqi army vehicles with stones, in protest against the government’s decision.
On Tuesday, Falih al-Fayyadh, the National Security Adviser and head of the Hashd al-Shaabi, told reporters in Nineveh Province that the Iraqi Army, police forces, and the militias had agreed to jointly manage security in the Nineveh Plain, stressing the militias were to follow the orders of the operations command.
This comes as the government struggles to fully integrate the Shia militias into the Iraqi security apparatus as some militias often failing to abide by the orders of the government.
The Hashd al-Shaabi has been managing security in the area since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in 2017.
The Hashd al-Shaabi, comprised of dozens of militia groups — most of which are backed by Iran — was formed in late 2014 by a fatwa issued by Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who asked men to take up arms against the Islamic State and protect religious Shia sites.
The Shia militia groups in Iraq altogether have around 150,000 fighters under their command.
Editing by Nadia Riva
