On the anniversary of its establishment seven years ago, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) held a military parade at Camp Ashraf in northern Diyala governorate on June 26, 2021 (Photo Credit: Twitter/@teamsmediawar))
2021-06-26
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SULAIMANI — On the anniversary of its establishment seven years ago, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) held a military parade at Camp Ashraf in northern Diyala governorate on Saturday morning (June 26), displaying a wide range of military hardware.
The PMF is a paramilitary umbrella organization that was organized to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) following a call to arms by Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani. Brigades associated with the cleric, however, declined to participate, leaving the bulk of the parade to feature groups backed by Iran.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, along with government officials from the Ministry of Defense, attended the show, which featured more than 20,000 fighters, according to media outlets affiliated with the PMF.
A member of the political office of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) Saad al-Saadi told NRT that the event was an impressive show of Iraq’s military strength and a key reason why the government was able to triumph over ISIS. Although in many ways operationally independent, the PMF is technically part of the Iraq’s official security forces.
Al-Saadi said that the show demonstrated that the PMF are sons of Iraq who will save the country in cooperation with other parts of Iraq’s armed forces.
The US and other members of the International Coalition blame groups within the PMF for attacks on the Green Zone in Baghdad and other places where foreign soldiers, diplomats, and contractors are based.
Those groups have also faced off with Kadhimi several times in the past year.
(NRT Digital Media)