ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — New prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi reaffirmed his government's support for the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) with a visit to the headquarters of the network of predominantly Shiite paramilitaries in Baghdad on Saturday.
"Hashd [al-Shaabi] is a force of the homeland who paid sacrifices [during the war against ISIS] and whose martyrs will remain in the memory of Iraqis," reads a statement by Kadhimi after being received by PMF chairman Falih al-Fayyadh.
PM Kadhimi "affirmed his support for the Hashd in its legal and official framework, and promised the PMF leadership with future visits to understand their needs and coordinate military operations against the terrorist organization ISIS," the statement added.
This comes amid an alleged growing schism within the ranks of the PMF, known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic, between those loyal to the country's top Shiite religious authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and those tied to Iran.
Without naming any offenders, Kadhimi warned that some people are "trying to find a gap between the Hashd and the state" and harm their relationship.
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The PMF was created in 2014 when Sistani issued a fatwa (a religious call to action) urging young Iraqis to take up arms against the Islamic State group (ISIS). The PMF was formally recognized as an Iraqi armed force by the parliament in 2016, enjoying similar privileges the Iraqi Army does.
Since the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq in late 2017, the role of the Hashd has increasingly been called into question, with demands to withdraw units garrisoned in northern areas and to fully integrate them into the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).
Others have fought to maintain the Hashd's autonomy from the ISF and its commander-in-chief, the Iraqi prime minister, allowing it to continue carrying out Iranian military objectives inside Iraq.
Hashd units close to Iran are widely accused of abducting and killing protesters during Iraq's recent wave of anti-government unrest. They are also believed responsible for a spate of deadly rocket attacks targeting US and coalition personnel stationed at bases across Iraq.
Sistani-affiliated units, meanwhile, are not known to have fired on protesters, have a generally better human rights record in areas they occupy, and are not implicated in the targeting of foreign troops and infrastructure.
Iraqi political analyst Husham al-Hashimi claims Kadhimi's visit could "put an end to the existing domestic rivalries" within the para-military, tweeting that the gesture carries significant moral and legal significance.
According to photos circulating on social media, Kadhimi was gifted a Hashd al-Shaabi uniform at the meeting.
