On Thursday, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, denied demanding an air force on their official website.
"There is no truth to what has been reported by media outlets concerning the issuing of a decree to form an air force command for Hashd al-Shaabi," read a statement on the website.
On Thursday afternoon, a letter spread online in which Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the PMF Commission, the body that oversees the largely Shiite Muslim militias backed by Iran, decreed the formation of an air force directorate. The story was widely reported in Iraqi media.
Rudaw English initially reached out to Hisham al-Musawi, the spokesperson of Al-Nujaba Movement, a US-designated terrorist group that is prominent within PMF, to confirm the authenticity of the letter, but was unable to obtain a confirmation.
The PMF Commission also denied the reports on its channel on the encrypted Telegram messaging service. An “authoritative source” within the PMF Commission also denied the report, according to the Iraqi state news service Iraqiya.
The news comes amid a series of explosions in July and August at arms depots targeting of PMF militias across Iraq.
Muhandis blamed the US and Israel for the airstrikes last month and said the PMF would defend itself. However, head of PMF Commission Faleh Fayad soon after published a counter statement, rejecting the claims of al-Muhandis.
The PMF was formed following a religious decree by Ayatollah Sistani, the highest Shiite religious authority of Iraq, in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (ISIS). Some PMF groups, like the Badr Organization, are decades-old and fought against the Iraqi army in the ran-Iraq war. Among the groups are also those who fought against US forces during the US occupation of Iraq. Many PMF groups receive support from Iran.
