The Iraqi Joint Operations Command ordered on Monday the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to steer clear five kilometers from the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the Niniveh plains area, a security forces revealed.
The PMF rejected the decision, claiming it will be met with major popular opposition.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Joint Operations Command wants the PMF’s 30th Brigade to withdraw five kms away from the contact line with the Peshmerga. Iraqi security forces will deploy in the positions they pull out from.
The decision was taken in wake of last week’s rocket attack against Erbil airport. The rockets were fired from a field in the Nineveh plains that is effectively under PMF control making the pro-Iran group the prime suspect in the incident.
The security source revealed that some PMF leaders, with the backing of political blocs, have been pressuring the government against making an official announcement on the withdrawal and were pushing it to retract it.
They dismissed the order as a move to clear the area of the PMF, it added.
Iraq’s military blamed a “terrorist group” for launching the Wednesday rocket attack on the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region’s capital, Erbil, and said there had been no casualties. Another probe, including international parties, was being carried out, declared the Kurdistan Region.
Leading member of the 30th Brigade, Abou Kawthar al-Shabaki, said: “We have not received any withdrawal order from the official authority that is the prime minister in his capacity as supreme commander of the armed forces.”
Former MP Majid al-Shankali told Asharq Al-Awsat that the order was a message from the Iraqi government to the Kurdistan Region that the area will come under the control of the military and that no further rocket attacks will take place.
“The PMF’s objection to the order will not impact the decision,” he added. “The order was made by the Joint Operations Command and the PMF’s rejection will only put them in a tight spot, especially since they always claim to respect the orders of the armed forces.”
“The PMF has no place between cities. They should be deployed in border regions with the armed forces. The security of internal regions and cities should be left to the security forces and police,” stressed Shankali.
In contrast, MP Qusay Abbas warned the withdrawal of the PMF will be met with massive popular opposition and will destabilize the region.
The very discussion of such unconfirmed reports has already sparked popular uproar that was on display on social media, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The PMF are a security force that was produced from the need for protection that local minorities have long demanded against terrorist groups, he charged.
The majority of the members of the 30th Brigade hail from the region, making them the most competent in protecting it, said Abbas.
Military expert Hassan Zuhair said the withdrawal of the PMF five kms away from the Peshmerga will put them in a location whereby only heavy and very advanced weapons can target the Kurdistan Region.
The deployment of the Iraqi military will prevent any violation or future rocket attacks, he stressed.
