Definitive break between Iraqi militias

The appointment of Abdul Aziz al-Mohammedawi as leader of the People's Mobilization Forces (PMF) in early April was an insurmountable crack for Iraqi militias. The struggle for the leadership of the PMF opened the door to confrontation and the fracture in the movement occurred officially in the first days of May.

Consequently, the militias alienated from Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, who had already publicly rejected Mohammedawi's claim to leadership, have decided to separate themselves from the more pro-Iranian groups. The Grand Ayatollah's attempt to wrest control of forces from Mohammedawi has resulted in the separation of the People's Mobilization Authority, the branch that oversees the PMF as a whole.

Al-Sistani is known to be a strong advocate of the separation of Islam and the State and therefore contrary to the vision of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei. Moreover, factions close to him have also rejected Iran's hegemony over the Iraqi militias. Four of them, the Abbas Combat Division, the Imam Ali Combat Division, the Ali Akbar Brigade and the Ansar al-Marja Brigade, have announced their split from the PMFs and placed themselves under the direct authority of the Iraqi Government. It should be noted that the MFP consists of about 40 organizations, composed of volunteers, including the Badr Organization, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kurdish units belonging to the Kurdistan Regional Government.

The pro-Sistani factions would be in favour of agreeing to a union between the Iraqi Army and the militias, a move that would entail significantly limiting ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The U.S. drone attack in early 2020, which killed PMF commander and vice president Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis along with Iranian military officer Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Quds forces, left a power vacuum in the Iraqi militias.

This gap was filled by Abdul Aziz al-Mohammedawi, a PMF commander with strong Iranian ties, as he was trained in the capital of the Republic, Tehran. Many pro-Iranian militiamen hoped this would be the solution, as Al-Mohammedawi, known by his nom de guerre as Abu Fadak, replaced Al-Muhandis as the general leader of Iraq's paramilitary groups. But the other militias that have rebelled today have already shown their discontent and refused to recognise Abu Fadak as commander of the PMF.

The origin of these mobilization forces is in 2014, when the Iraqi Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani, announced a fatwa for all men capable of taking up arms to unite in a militia group to deal with Daesh's offensive on the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. They were established during Nouri al-Maliki's term in office (2006-2014). Most of the militias are Shi'a, but there are also Christian and Sunni factions.

These militias, sponsored by the Iraqi government, are decisive for the defence of the capital, but Iranian support has also been fundamental in the development and maintenance of these groups, especially in providing equipment, training and logistical support.

MFPs are also funded by the Iraqi state and comprise dozens of militias which, despite having different allegiances, are dominated by factions with close ties to Iran, including Al-Muhandis' Kataib Hezbollah.

Sistani's fatwa made it clear that those fighting Daesh should do so only under the mandate of Iraqi security forces, but then-Prime Minister Al-Maliki handed over leadership to two key allies for Iran: Faleh al-Fayyad, his national security advisor, and Al-Muhandis, founder of most of the Iraqi factions associated with Iran.

Al Sistani and Maliki's successor as prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, tried unsuccessfully to regain control of the MFP. However, the power vacuum generated by the assassinations of Soleimani and Muhandis on 3 January this year reopened the doors to regaining this control.

Tensions between those who advocate independence with Iran and those who support the Islamic Republic reached a peak in October last year when Soleimani, Muhandis and other senior commanders were directly involved in a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, in which hundreds were killed and thousands injured.

Now, although the dissident militia group was initially waiting for the formation of a new government - as was the case with the recent appointment of Mustafa al-Kadhimi as prime minister - events have been rushed and Al-Sistani's factions have already sworn allegiance to the Iraqi army.

It should be recalled at this point that in February President Barham Saleh appointed Adnan al-Zurfi as prime minister, an appointment that did not please the pro-Iranian militia leaders, as al-Zurfi has always shown some complacency towards the United States. In fact, this was one of the reasons he did not succeed in forming a government.

According to the militias themselves, the number of fighters now exceeds 150,000, while the number of militiamen who have already left the PMF is less than 12,000, although this number is expected to increase considerably soon.