Iraq will not tolerate attacks on Popular Mobilization Forces, prime minister says

BAGHDAD

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Thursday that his government will not tolerate any attacks on the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or other branches of the country’s armed forces.

The PMF made “significant sacrifices and played a role in protecting Iraq and strengthening its sovereignty and independence,” Sudani said during a visit to the PMF headquarters in Baghdad, as reported by a statement from his office.

The premier stressed his “full support for this key force within our security institutions.”

Sudani dismissed accusations against the PMF of acting outside the state and law as “ignorance or deliberate misinformation with specific objectives.”

“The PMF today represents a fundamental force operating under the constitution and the law, and is committed to orders issued by official authorities,” he added.

The prime minister stressed that the PMF played “a well-recognized role in thwarting major threats to Iraq’s unity, particularly during the fight against the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group.”

The PMF is an official Iraqi security umbrella established in 2014 following a religious edict by top cleric Ali al-Sistani to confront ISIS, and was later integrated into the armed forces by a government decision in 2016.

Recent attacks targeting the group, which have resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries among its members, come amid the ongoing war launched by Israel and the United States on Iran since Feb. 28.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul