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Iraq’s PMF Shows off Weaponry in Big Anniversary Parade

Members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) take part in a military parade in Diyala province Iraq, June 26, 2021. (Reuters)
Members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) take part in a military parade in Diyala province Iraq, June 26, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iraq’s PMF Shows off Weaponry in Big Anniversary Parade

Members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) take part in a military parade in Diyala province Iraq, June 26, 2021. (Reuters)
Members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) take part in a military parade in Diyala province Iraq, June 26, 2021. (Reuters)

Thousands of Iraqi paramilitary fighters, including Iran-backed factions, marched at a military base in eastern Iraq on Saturday showcasing tanks and rocket launchers in their biggest formal parade to date.

The event, attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, marked seven years since the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were formed to fight the ISIS group.

"I esteem your sacrifices, and the sacrifices of the Iraqi armed forces" in fighting ISIS, Kadhimi said, warning against any "sedition" within the PMF, but without elaborating.

The PMF’s establishment created a state-sanctioned umbrella organization of mostly Shiite militias backed by Iran.

The Iran-aligned factions, which are the most powerful in the PMF, have since ISIS’ defeat in 2017 expanded their military, political and economic power and attacked bases housing the 2,500 remaining US forces in Iraq.

They have allies in parliament and government and a grip over some state bodies, including security institutions.

Those factions are also accused of killing protesters who took to the streets in late 2019 demanding the removal of Iraq’s ruling elite. The groups deny involvement in activist killings.

Kadhimi has tried to crack down on the most powerful Iran-backed factions but without success because of their military strength and political influence.

The membership of Iran-aligned groups in the PMF has made it difficult for Kadhimi and state security forces to check the power of the militias, since they are effectively part of the state itself.

On Saturday Kadhimi watched, flanked by militia commanders while hundreds of armored vehicles drove past a banner of the late PMF military chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iran-backed commander who was killed in a US drone strike last year.

The parade, a demonstration of military might, took place at a base once occupied by US troops near the border with Iran.

The PMF was formed in 2014 after Iraq’s top religious authority cleric Ali al-Sistani urged all able-bodied Iraqis to take up arms against ISIS, which had taken over a third of Iraq.

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Red Cross Concerned by Drone Attacks on Critical Infrastructure in Sudan

People collect food at a location set up by a local humanitarian organization to donate meals and medication to people displaced by the war in Sudan, in Meroe in the country's Northern State, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
People collect food at a location set up by a local humanitarian organization to donate meals and medication to people displaced by the war in Sudan, in Meroe in the country's Northern State, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Red Cross Concerned by Drone Attacks on Critical Infrastructure in Sudan

People collect food at a location set up by a local humanitarian organization to donate meals and medication to people displaced by the war in Sudan, in Meroe in the country's Northern State, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
People collect food at a location set up by a local humanitarian organization to donate meals and medication to people displaced by the war in Sudan, in Meroe in the country's Northern State, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The Red Cross raised alarm on Thursday at the growing use of drone attacks by warring parties on hospitals, electricity and water infrastructure in Sudan, which it said was contributing to widespread human rights violations.

Some 70-80% of hospitals in Sudan were not running and there were concerns cholera could surge due to damage caused by the war to water infrastructure, the International Committee of the Red Cross told reporters in Geneva.

"A recent drone attack stopped all the electricity provision in an area close to Khartoum, which means critical infrastructure is being damaged," said Patrick Youssef, the Red Cross's Regional Director for Africa, in a new report.

"There is a clear increased use of these technologies, drones - to be in the hands of everyone - which increases the impact on the local population and the intensity of attacks," Youssef said.

After two years of fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, some people are returning to Khartoum after they were forced to flee when war broke out on April 15, 2023 amidst a ongoing power struggle between the army and the RSF ahead of a transition to civilian rule.

Some 12 million people have been displaced by the conflict since 2023.

"We have seen violations of the law left, right and center,” Youssef said, urging the warring parties to allow the Red Cross access so it can offer humanitarian support and document atrocities.

In March, aid groups told Reuters that the RSF had placed new constraints on aid deliveries to territories where it was seeking to cement its control. Aid groups have also accused the army of denying or hindering access to RSF-controlled areas.

Both sides in the conflict deny impeding aid.