Two Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups say they will begin handing in their weapons to Iraqi authorities, a step they present as part of efforts to reduce independent armed activity under the country’s new government. According to multiple outlets, Asaib Ahl al-Haq announces it has formed a committee to oversee the process, including inventorying its fighters, weapons, and equipment, and coordinating with Iraq’s commander-in-chief. The group links its decision to calls from Iraq’s senior Shiite religious authority and from the Coordination Framework, a major political bloc in parliament. A second group, the Imam Ali Brigades, also says the time has come to build a “strong state with full sovereignty,” adding that it wants weapons to be held by the state and to support state institutions. The announcements are presented as responses to pressure to bring militia arms more directly under state control, where militias have previously operated with significant autonomy despite formal ties to state command structures.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias say they will begin handing weapons to authorities
Two Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups say they will begin handing in their weapons to Iraqi authorities, a step they present as part of efforts to reduce independent armed activity under the country’s...
- Two Iran-backed Iraqi militias say they will begin handing weapons to Iraqi authorities.
- Asaib Ahl al-Haq says it will form a committee to oversee the transfer, including inventorying fighters, weapons, and equipment.
- Asaib Ahl al-Haq says it will coordinate with Iraq’s commander-in-chief and cites calls from Iraq’s senior Shiite religious authority and the Coordination Framework.
- The Imam Ali Brigades says the goal is for weapons to be with the state and to strengthen state institutions.
- The move is described as part of broader efforts by Iraq’s new government to rein in militias that have operated autonomously.
IRBIL, Iraq — Two of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed militias said on Tuesday they would begin handing in their weapons to the authorities, a major step in the new government’s effort to rein in militias that have long operated on their own even though they were nominally under state command. One of the groups, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said it had formed a committee to oversee the move, inventory its fighters, weapons and equipment, and coordinate with the commander-in-chief of Iraq's armed forces. It cast the decision as a response to calls by Iraq’s top Shiite religious authority and the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework , the largest bloc in Parliament that dominates Iraqi politics. The second group, the Imam Ali Brigades, made a similar announcement saying the time has come “to build a strong state with full sovereignty.” It added that its aim was now to have weapons only with the state and help boost state institutions. The war in the Middle East , which the United States and Israel launched on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, has exposed the fragility of Iraq’s state instit
2 months agoOne of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed armed groups says it will begin putting its weapons under government control
2 months agoOne of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed armed groups says it will begin putting its weapons under government control
2 months ago
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