Iraq’s PMU at a glance: People’s force against terror

The PMU’s formation goes back to the summer of 2014, shortly after Daesh, the world’s most notorious terror group, showed face in Iraq and managed to occupy swathes of territory in the Arab country.

Daesh’s lightning gains caught the national army of Iraq off guard, pushing government forces to the verge of collapse and leaving the Arab state in disarray.

On June 15 that year, Iraq’s prominent Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani intervened to help rebuild the national army’s stressing, issuing a fatwa that called on all Iraqi people Iraqis to join forces with the army in the face of the Daesh threat.

The historic fatwa led to a mass mobilization of popular volunteer forces under the banner of Hashd al-Sha’abi. The force then rushed to the aid of the army and took the lead in many of the successful anti-terror operations, which ultimately led to the collapse of Daesh’s territorial rule and liberation of the entire Iraqi land in December 2017.

The PMU’s efficient role in the Takfiri outfit’s defeat turned the force into a permanent and broadly-popular feature of Iraq’s social, political and security landscapes, despite attempts by the US and its allies to depict the PMU’s mission as sectarian in nature.

In November 2016, the Iraqi parliament recognized Hashd al-Sha’abi as an official force with similar rights as those of the regular army, therefore legally establishing it as part of the National Armed Forces, which is subject to its command.

Hashd al-Sha’abi formally inducted into Iraq security systemIraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formalizes the inclusion of pro-government Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters in the country

Subsequently in March 2018, the then Iraqi premier, Haider al-Abadi, issued a decree, which said Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters would be granted many of the same rights as members of the military.

The decree added that PMU fighters would be given salaries equivalent to those received by members of the military under the Ministry of Defense’s control. Under the decree, the PMU members would be subject to military laws and would gain access to military institutes and colleges.

In July 2019, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi issued another decree that further integrates Hashd al-Sha’abi into the country’s armed forces.

“In the interest of the public good and as per the powers granted to us by the constitution … the following is decreed: all Popular Mobilization Forces are to operate as an indivisible part of the armed forces and be subject to the same regulations,” read the decree.