Popular Mobilization Forces

Popular Mobilization Forces
Popular Mobilization Forces
الحشد الشعبي; al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī
	Flag of the Popular Mobilization Forces
Active	15 June 2014 – present
Country	Iraq
Branch	Paramilitary
Role	Counter-insurgency; Raiding; Urban warfare
Size	230,000
Part of	Iraqi Armed Forces
Engagements	War in Iraq (2013–2017); Syrian Civil War; Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present);
Website	al-hashed.gov.iq
Commanders
Leaders	Falih Al-Fayyadh; (Chairman of Popular Mobilization Committee); See Structure
Notable fighters	Abu Azrael; Abu Tahsin al-Salihi
Insignia
Patch
Spokesman	Ahmed Al Asadi
Dates of operation	15 June 2014–present
Group(s)	See Structure
Headquarters	Baghdad
Active regions	International; In Syria:; Aleppo Governorate; Deir ez-Zor Governorate;
Ideology	Factions:; • Shia Islamism; • Khomeinism; • Pro-Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr; • Pro-Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr; • Pro-Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim; • Pro-Kazem al-Haeri; • Islamic unity ; • Feyli Kurdish interests; • Iraqi Turkmen interests; • Yazidi interests; • Syriac Christianity interests; • Anti-Zionism; • Anti-Americanism; • Anti-West; • Anti-LGBT; • Anti-anarchism
Allies	State allies Iran Artesh; IRGC Quds Force; Basij; ; ; Syria; Russia; North Korea; Non-state allies Islamic Resistance in Iraq; Hezbollah; Peshmerga (only against ISIS); Islamic Dawa Party (Nouri al-Maliki); Syrian Democratic Forces (only against ISIS); February 14 Youth Coalition; Houthis (alleged, denied by PMF); Hezbollah Al-Hejaz; Sinjar Resistance Units;
Opponents	State opponents Israel; United States; CJTF–OIR; Non-state opponents Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant; GMCIR (until December 2014); Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order; Al-Nusra Front (until 28 January 2017); Free Syrian Army; Islamic Front (until 2015); White Flags; Ansar al-Islam; People's Mujahedin of Iran;

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Arabic: قوات الحشد الشعبي, romanized: Quwwāt al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī), also known as the People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization composed of approximately 67 different armed factions, with around 230,000 fighters that are mostly Shia Muslim groups, but also include Sunni Muslim, Christian, and Yazidi groups. The Popular Mobilization Units as a group was formed in 2014 and have fought in nearly every major battle against ISIL. 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. It has been called the new Iraqi Republican Guard after it was fully reorganized in early 2018 by its then–Commander in Chief Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq from 2014 to 2018, who issued "regulations to adapt the situation of the Popular Mobilization fighters".

Some of its component militias which pledge allegiance to Iran are considered terrorist groups by some states, while others have been accused of promoting sectarian violence. Pro-Iran Khomeinist organizations in PMF which pledge allegiance to the Iranian Rahbar include the Badr Organisation, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Kata'ib Hezbollah, Kata’ib al-Imam Ali, Saraya Khorasani, etc. During the 2019–2021 Iraqi protests, the pro-Iran factions of PMF organisation were responsible for killing and wounding large numbers of protesters and activists. Khomeinist paramilitary factions in the PMF have been engaged in political and ideological conflicts with pro-Sistani and Sadrist PMF factions, and their increasing rivalry has erupted into violent clashes. This schism had caused pro-Iran factions to leave the PMF and form the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.