Iraq Recognizes Hashd Al-Shaabi as Official Part of National Armed Forces

Rasa - Members of the Iraqi parliament voted on Saturday to recognize the popular mobilization forces known as Hashd al-Shaabi as an official force with similar rights as the regular army.

News ID: 425324

Date: 26 November 2016 - 17:53

RNA - According to Iraqi News, the law counts Hashd al-Shaabi as part of the national armed forces and subject to its supreme commander.

The law says personnel affiliated with the force should be disconnected from any other political, social or partisan affiliations. It gives an exclusive mandate to the supreme commander of the armed forces to decide on the distribution and deployment of the force among provinces.

MPs in the Iraqi parliament told Rudaw that Hashd al-Shaabi will also come under the full control of the armed forces, and also enjoy the same rights and privileges as the army.

The parliamentary decree also stipulates that members of all Iraqi ethnic and religious groups will have the right the join Hashd al-Shaabi and they will be reorganized through the army after the Mosul liberation operation.

The Hashd al-Shaabi was formed upon a call by Iraq’s grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the summer of 2014 when ISIL captured several Iraqi provinces and he urged civilians to take up arms and fight against the Takfiri terrorist group.

The Popular Mobilization Forces along with Iraqi army troops and Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been involved in the Mosul liberation operation.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced on October 17, the start of a military operation to recapture Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq which fell to the ISIL since 2014.

Meanwhile, volunteer fighters of Hashd al-Shaabi began an offensive against the ISIL terrorists West of Mosul on October 29 to cut off supply routes between Mosul and Raqqa in Syria, tighten the siege (against ISIL) in Mosul and liberate the strategic town of Tal Afar.

The Iraqi volunteer forces started their 5th phase of anti-terrorism operation Southwest of Tal Afar city in Nineveh province on Friday.

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