Iraq: Four Brigades Break Away from PMF Command

A view of a market in Baghdad, EPA
A view of a market in Baghdad, EPA
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Iraq: Four Brigades Break Away from PMF Command

A view of a market in Baghdad, EPA
A view of a market in Baghdad, EPA

Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi ordered taking control of four Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) combat brigades that fall under the religious authority in Najaf and Karbala.

The four brigades will now fall under the “command and management” of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and no longer under the direct command of the Iran-allied PMF board.

The four brigades include the 2nd, 11th, 26th, and 44th brigades of the PMF, which are all loyal to Iraq’s highest Shiite religious authority.

The four brigades were created in June 2014 following a fatwa, or religious call to action, from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in response to the ISIS insurgency.

In mid-March, a delegation representing the four brigades met with the Minister of Defense Najah Al-Shammari, stressing their keenness on "the unity of Iraq and the independence of its decision."

It was reported at the time that the four brigades were willing to join the Ministry of Defense.

There are frequent reports on Sistani’s concern with the nature of tasks undertaken by the PMF after the war with ISIS has come to an end. Many divisions have risen in the 60-paramilitary umbrella as some factions have pledged their loyalty to Iraq’s highest religious authority and others to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In the past years, several differences have emerged between the PMF and religious authorities in Iraq. Many of the divisions involve financial and military issues.

Iraqi political expert Hisham al-Hashemi sees that Abdul-Mahdi’s decision to take over the four brigades is part of the great disputes between PMF leader Abdulaziz al-Mohammedawi , also known as Abu Fadak, and the PMF factions loyal to Iraq’s religious authority.

“This settlement means the administrative and operational disengagement of the four brigades from the PMF,” AL-Hashemi told Asharq Al-Awsat.



US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
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US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)

US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others, the Houthi group said early Monday.
The deaths mark the latest in America’s intensified campaign of strikes targeting the Houthis. The US military’s Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign.
The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighborhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district. That area has been targeted before by the Americans.
Footage aired by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers heading into a hospital
Strikes overnight into Monday also hit other areas of the country, including Yemen's Amran, Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates.
The strikes come after US airstrikes hit the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen last week, killing at least 74 people and wounding 171 others.
The strikes follow the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the US and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Washington has linked to its attacks in Yemen.
The US is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.
The new US operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than attacks on the group were under President Joe Biden, an AP review found. The new campaign started after the group threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it. The Houthis also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.
Assessing the toll of the month-old US airstrike campaign has been difficult because the military hasn’t released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed. The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.