At Tal Afar, Iraqi Army Strengthened by Popular Mobilisation Units

Iraqi Army and Popular Mobilisations Units (PMU) has emerged as a strong force in Iraq, after pushing the Islamic State to withdraw from Tal Afar. This comes eight days after the former launched an offensive in the area.

The Iraqi Army announced that their forces are now in full control of the formerly IS-held area of Tal Afar in northern Iraq, including the key neighbourhood areas of the capital city.

In the battle, however, the strength of Iraqi forces was compounded by PMU (Al-HashdAl-Sha’abi), a pro-government Shia militia consisting of scores of other militias. The militia is led by Iraqi military and played a key role in putting up a fight against the IS fighters.

The participation of PMUs in military operations against the IS has been long debated, since the beginning. It divided the opinion between Shia and Sunni stakeholders, the latter against their inclusion. The role of PMU, however, has been lauded so far in amplifying the Iraqi Army’s force, especially in latest offensive against Tal Afar, despite the sporadic charges of human rights violations and perpetrating sectarian violence.

The PMU consists mostly of Shia-formations but the militia also consists of Sunni Muslims, Christians and Yazidi individuals, formed after Iraq chief cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in a fatwa (ruling), called for a national mobilization against the IS in 2014. Sistani’s call for a fight against the IS was made to a cross-section of ethnoreligious and tribal groups.

PMUs core is formed of outfits like Badr Organisation, a paramilitary organization that claims of having the strength of as many as 15,000 troops, Asaib al-Haq or the League of Righteous People, which claims to have strength of 10,000 troops and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada or the Martyrs of Sayyid Battalions, claiming strength of over 30,000 troops. The group also includes formations like Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kata’ib al-Imam Ali, and Kata’ib Jund al-Imam as its basic outfits.

Many of these militias are believed to be directly supported and funded by Iran, but as per their critiques, they rarely follow a proper chain of command and often fail to work with coordination and accountability.

Tal Afar is a Turkmen majority city of Iraq and most of belong to the Sunni sect. The fight in Tal Afar was also seen vital for the PMUs Shia Turkmen component that joined the conglomerate to increase their own autonomy and counter Sunni Turkmen, many of whom formed the IS ranks.

As the government forces took over Tal Afar, the remaining IS fighters withdrew to Al Ayadiah town in the north where they are expected to regroup and form defences. To stop that, the Iraqi Army is likely to prompt their advances against the IS, as they also face a final push back from Deir in south-east Syria.