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.



Abbas Urges Hamas to Stop Giving Israel ‘Excuses’ in Gaza

A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
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Abbas Urges Hamas to Stop Giving Israel ‘Excuses’ in Gaza

A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)
A camp for internally displaced Palestinians, which was set up by the HHO Foundation in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 08 April 2025. (EPA)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the Hamas group Tuesday to stop giving Israel "excuses" to keep up its devastating offensive in Gaza.

Israel resumed major strikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Tuesday that 58 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours.

In a statement, the Ramallah-based Palestinian presidency called on Hamas to "cease making any irresponsible decisions to spare our people the consequences of (the Israeli) aggression".

The statement pointed to the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. "Stop giving the occupation any excuses to continue its genocide," it said.

It called on Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, to "adhere to the official Palestinian position and the Arab initiatives".

French President Emmanuel Macron met with King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi of Egypt in Cairo Monday, where they called for Abbas's Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza after a ceasefire, and for Hamas to have no role in post-war governance.

The Palestinian Authority is dominated by Abbas's Fatah movement, Hamas's longtime rival.

At their Cairo meeting, the three leaders called for an "immediate return" to the two-month ceasefire that effectively ended in March.

In its statement, the Palestinian presidency also denounced a newly established Israeli corridor in south Gaza as a violation of international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the creation of the Morag axis between the south Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah last week.

He presented the axis as a new Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land along the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt that the Israeli army has already cleared of buildings.

Witnesses told AFP Tuesday that Israeli forces were present on the axis, and had set up a surveillance crane equipped with a machine gun at one of its crossroads.