On June 13, 2014, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq’s top Shia cleric, issued a fatwa asking Iraqis to join the fight against terrorism.
asserted
Sistani → issue → terrorism
“The nature of the situation and the dangers facing Iraq and its people at the present time require defending the country, its people and the honour of its citizens,” said the cleric in his edict, which was read out by his representative Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai, during Friday prayers in Karbala.
asserted
which → face → Karbala
Mr. Sistani’s call came amid the rapid territorial advances made by the Islamic State (IS), a Sunni-jihadist group, in Iraq.
asserted
call → come → Iraq
On June 10, IS militants captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
asserted
militants → capture → Mosul
After consolidating in the north, they started moving south towards Baghdad, while also threatening Shia holy places such as Najaf and Karbala.
asserted
they → consolidate → Najaf
In the north, the Iraqi military collapsed in the face of IS advance.
asserted
military → collapse → advance
There was panic in Baghdad, where Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was scrambling to arrest the jihadist surge.
asserted
Maliki → be → surge
“This defence is considered a wajib kifai [collective obligation] upon a sufficient number of citizens as is needed to fulfil the task,” Mr. Sistani said in his fatwa.
asserted
Sistani → consider → fatwa
“Hence, the citizens who are able to bear arms and fight the terrorists in defence of their country, their people and their sanctities must volunteer to join the army and the security forces to achieve this sacred objective.
asserted
who → bear → objective
The edict triggered the mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi youth to fight the Islamic State.
asserted
edict → trigger → State
But the mobilisation did not remain confined to the army and police.
asserted
mobilisation → remain → army
Shia militias expanded and new armed groups emerged, eventually forming the core of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMFs, or Hashd al-Shaabi).
asserted
groups → expand → Forces
The Iraqi state, shaken by the loss of Mosul, encouraged the militias to expand their footprint, while Iran, equally invested in defeating the IS, provided money, weapons and training to the militias.
asserted
Iran → shake → militias
Seven groups were already operating in Iraq – Badr Organisation; Asaib Ahl al-Haq; Kataib Hezbollah; Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada; Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba; Kataib Jund al-Imam; and Kataib al-Imam Ali.
asserted
groups → operate → Iraq
Several new groups also sprang up.
asserted
groups → spring → ?
All these forces were brought under the PMF umbrella for better coordination in the fight against the Islamic State.
asserted
forces → bring → State
The PMF factions, which fought alongside the Iraqi military under U.S. air cover, played a key role in defeating the IS.
asserted
which → fight → IS
But the battle against the jihadist group also led to the institutionalisation of the militias, which refused to disarm even after the IS was defeated and its militants were driven out of most Iraqi cities, including Mosul.
asserted
militants → lead → Mosul
Calling themselves resistance forces, the prominent factions in the PMF demanded complete American withdrawal from Iraq.
asserted
factions → call → Iraq
The killing of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chairman of the PMF and leader of Kataib Hezbollah, in January 2020, along with Iran’s Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad by a U.S. air strike opened a new phase of attritional conflict between the PMF and U.S. forces in Iraq.
asserted
killing → open → Iraq
This conflict escalated further after the U.S. launched its war on Iran this year.
asserted
U.S. → escalate → Iran
On September 30, when U.S. troops completed their withdrawal from Iraq, 23 years after the invasion started, the PMF, unsurprisingly, called it a “historic victory”.
asserted
it → complete → Iraq
The PMF now comprises more than three dozen militias, with an estimated total strength of 240,000 fighters and an annual budget of $3.4 billion.
asserted
PMF → comprise → billion
Historically, the PMF contained three broad currents: Iran-aligned factions, Sistani-aligned shrine units and the Sadrist Saraya al-Salam.
asserted
PMF → contain → currents
The Sistani-aligned shrine units (Abbas Combat Division, Liwa Ali al-Akbar and Imam Ali Combat Division) subsequently broke away from the PMF structure in 2020 and came under the direct authority of the commander-in-chief.
asserted
units → align → chief
Badr Organisation, originally the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq; Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba are the prominent Iran-backed factions within the PMF fold.
asserted
Hezbollah → back → fold
The most prominent Sadrist militia is Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades), which is aligned with the PMF but maintains a tense relationships with its command.
asserted
which → align → command
He had commanded the now-dissolved Mahdi Army that resisted U.S. troops in the early days of the invasion.
asserted
that → command → invasion
The Mahdi Army had received support from Iran, but Mr. Sadr later distanced himself from Iranian influence and projected Saraya al-Salam as an Iraqi nationalist militia.
asserted
Sadr → receive → militia
The U.S. had repeatedly demanded that the Iraqi state demobilise the militias, some of which, such as Kataib Hezbollah, have been designated as terrorist groups.
asserted
some → demand → groups
But both mainstream Iraqi politicians and militia commanders have resisted such calls.
asserted
politicians → resist → calls
In 2016, the Iraqi Parliament passed the PMF commission law, which institutionalised the PMF as an independent organisation within the Iraqi armed forces.
asserted
which → pass → forces
But they continued to maintain their independent command structures.
asserted
they → continue → structures
The prominent members of the PMF also formed political parties and started contesting elections.
asserted
members → form → elections
In 2018, Badr Organization, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib al-Imam Ali all came together to form the Fatah Alliance, a political coalition to represent the militias in the general elections (the alliance was later disbanded).
asserted
alliance → come → elections
Besides, the Sadrist movement has a separate political organisation, the National Shia Movement.
asserted
movement → have → organisation
In the current Iraqi parliament, Badr Organisation has 18 seats, while Sadiqoun Movement, another PMF-linked political bloc, has 27 seats.
asserted
Movement → have → seats
After the U.S. and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28, 2026, the Iran-aligned militias in the PMF started attacking American military and diplomatic facilities in Iraq.
asserted
militias → start → Iraq
According to U.S. officials, they carried out some 600 attacks since the war broke out and the U.S. launched air strikes targeting these groups.
uncertain
U.S. → accord → groups
But the U.S. found it increasingly difficult to deter PMF factions whose decentralised operational tactics and geographical spread worked in their favour.
asserted
tactics → find → favour
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
