Report about 'Desert Phantoms' Military Force Stirs Debate in Iraq

Iraqi parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi at the parliament in Baghdad. (AFP)
Iraqi parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi at the parliament in Baghdad. (AFP)
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Report about 'Desert Phantoms' Military Force Stirs Debate in Iraq

Iraqi parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi at the parliament in Baghdad. (AFP)
Iraqi parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi at the parliament in Baghdad. (AFP)

A vague report about the formation of a new military force in Iraq that is loyal to parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi has sparked fierce debate among Sunnis in the country.

The report, which was widely circulated on social media, said the "Desert Phantoms" was formed of Iraqis from the western provinces. They have been trained by American forces and were carefully selected based on their political loyalty to Halbousi's Taqaddum coalition.

The report claimed the force has been tasked with protecting the headquarters of Sunni parties and blocs in Baghdad from attacks that they have recently come under. The force is seeking to deploy in Baghdad to protect party and political headquarters.

Halbousi slammed the report, tweeting that people will "no longer fall for the policy of intimidation, led by a handful of mercenaries, that is aimed at stirring unrest and spreading rumors."

A source close to the speaker suspected that armed factions were behind the report.

The report is part of systematic attempts to spread panic in the country, he told local media on Sunday.

"The Desert Phantoms are a fabrication aimed at deceiving naive people and leading them to believe that a sectarian group of thugs is deployed in the desert. This is ridiculous," he added.

He did, however, express his concern over the hidden intentions behind the spread of such rumors. He suspected that armed groups "active outside the authority of the state" would exploit the situation to "spark terror among the people of Iraq to cover for their suspicious plots."

Head of the Sahwat al-Iraq, Ahmad Abu Risha said the report is aimed at excluding the Taqaddum coalition from the new government.

"The Desert Phantoms is the latest lie to target the destroyed provinces," he tweeted, in reference to the provinces of al-Anbar, Salaheddine and Nineveh that were occupied by the ISIS terrorist group.

"The lie has been used for petty political goals and interests with the aim of intimidating entire blocs from taking part in the new national majority government," he added.

"Those with ill intentions must know that we do not believe in the state of militias and gangs, but we believe in a state that is ruled by justice and is protected by its brave army," he stressed.

The recently formed alliance between Moqtada al-Sadr, Halbousi and Masoud Barzani to form the national majority government did not sit well with the Coordination Framework, which is mainly comprised of pro-Iran factions.

The Framework is seeking to obstruct government formation efforts in an attempt to revert to the old way of forming cabinets through various alliances.

The pro-Iran factions had emerged as the major losers in the October parliamentary elections, which they have dismissed as a sham.



Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.