By Shelly Kittleson, for Foreign Policy. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. A Powerful Iran-Backed Militia Is Losing Influence in Iraq Five months after its charismatic leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was killed by a U.S. drone strike at the Baghdad airport, […]
By Seth J. Frantzman, for Foreign Policy. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The PMU Is Getting More Aggressive in Iraq In January, Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of Iraq's largest political party, traveled to Iran's holy city of Qom to meet […]
By Michael Knights, Hamdi Malik and Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Honored, Not Contained: The Future of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces Hastily raised when the Islamic State was knocking at […]
By Ali Mamouri for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq orders militias to fully integrate into state security forces Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued a decree July 1 ordering the factions of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) to integrate fully into […]
By Omar Sattar for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. As more factions within Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) are being designated as terrorists by the US administration on account of their close ties with the Iranian side, Tehran is moving toward pulling […]
By Shelly Kittleson for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In Iraq, tension between the US-led coalition and armed groups linked to Iran has risen in recent months. For example, the United States sanctioned key representatives of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on […]
By John Lee. US-based General Dynamics, which produces Abrams tanks, has reportedly suspended its maintenance program in Iraq after one of its tanks was provided to the Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi Popular Mobilization Force (PMF). Iraq's al-Ghad Press has reports that the company withdrew from its base at Baghdad’s al-Muthanna airport after finding out that Iraq […]
By John Lee. The Institute for the Study of War has issued a new report -- Iraqi Security Forces and Popular Mobilization Forces: Orders of Battle -- in which it claimes that the liberation Daesh's urban holdings in Iraq was necessary but not sufficient to secure America’s vital national interests. It says ISIS has lost […]
By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi-Saudi relations have witnessed significant improvement after years of boycott that had worsened during Nouri al-Maliki’s rule between 2006 and 2014. On Oct. 22, the establishment of a Coordination […]
On October 4, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) media outlet claimed that Iraqi forces had fully recaptured the town of Hawija; hours after the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said it launched a fresh offensive targeting its centre. The PMU claimed that the decisive victory came as part of a second stage of operations launched […]
By John Lee. AINA reports that a large convoy of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) has been seen moving towards the Iraqi-Saudi border. This comes following increasing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar; the Iraqi government has expressed support for Qatar in its conflict with Saudi Arabia. (Source: AINA)
By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any views expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. As the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) continue their operations in the western areas of Mosul, some PMU factions reached the Syrian border May 29 and were met by Syrian […]
