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Kurdish PMF unit formed in Kirkuk
[Rudaw] A Kurdish unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) militia network has been formed in the disputed province of Kirkuk."It’s for our own protection and the region’s protection," Jabbar Ghazi, commander of the new force and a former Peshmerga intelligence commander in Dubiz, told Rudaw’s Hiwa Hussamadin on Saturday. "We don’t discriminate between any ethnicity, but this is especially for the protection of Kurds and our region." The force is made up of 150 young Kurds, according to Ghazi. The PMF is a mostly-Shia militia network formed in 2014 in response to a fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani calling for action against the Islamic State  ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... (ISIS) group. It is made up of around 60 units. PMF units in the past have claimed to represent the interests of specific minority groups. The Babylon Brigade has been described as a Christian brigade, but experts question the unit's base of support. "The Babylon Brigade touts Rayan Kildani, a local Christian, as its leader, but he is merely seen as a Iran’s token figure in an attempt to broaden the political alliance’s appeal," reads an analysis piece by Paul Gadalla in the Atlantic Council. "Kurdish Hashds will protect their residents in each Kurdish district in Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... " PMF head Adnan Najar Oughlu in Kirkuk, who commonly goes by Abu Imad, told Hussamadin on Rudaw. Supposedly a second Kurdish unit will be formed in the Kirkuk’s district of Shwan, where the head of the Shwan tribe says 150 people are ready to take up arms against ISIS. "We have 31,000 Hashd fighters in Kirkuk, none of them are Kurds," Shaml Kwekha Ahmed Shwan, head of the Shwan tribe, told Rudaw. "This isn’t against anyone, this is against terrorism, this is just to protect ourselves." PMF leadership has denied the formation of a Kurdish unit in Kirkuk, according to a statement obtained by Rudaw from the KRG's Ministry of Interior on Sunday evening. Security has been a contentious issue in disputed areas like Kirkuk. ISIS has exploited security gaps between Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga in the province, with its remaining fighters carrying out attacks against security forces and civilians. Kirkuk, a diverse oil-rich province of Kurdish, Arab, Turkmen and Christian residents, is disputed between the federal Iraqi and Kurdish regional governments. Posted by: trailing wife 2020-12-14 |
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