Iraqi prime minister removes paramilitary commanders after deadly clash with police
Gunmen descended on the agricultural directorate in Baghdad's Karkh district on July 27 and clashed with federal police. The raid came after the former head of the directorate was ousted and a new one appointed.
A government-commissioned investigation found that the former director — who was implicated in corruption cases — had called in members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia to stage the attack, Sabah Al-Numan, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said in a statement Saturday.
Al-Sudani, who also serves as commander in chief of the armed forces, ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the attack.
Kataib Hezbollah is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of mostly Shiite, Iran-backed militias that formed to fight the Islamic State extremist group as it rampaged across the country more than a decade ago.
The PMF was formally placed under the control of the Iraqi military in 2016, but in practice it still operates with significant autonomy. Some groups within the coalition have periodically launched drone attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Syria.
The Kataib Hezbollah fighters who staged the attack in Karkh were affiliated with the 45th and 46th Brigades of the PMF, the government statement said.
Al-Sudani approved recommendations to remove the commanders of those two brigades, refer all those involved in the raid to the judiciary, and open an investigation into 'negligence in leadership and control duties' in the PMF command, it said.
The report also cited structural failings within the PMF, noting the presence of formations that act outside the chain of command.
The relationship between the Iraqi state and the PMF has been a point of tension with the United States as Iraq attempts to balance its relations with Washington and Tehran.
The Iraqi parliament is discussing legislation that would solidify the relationship between the military and the PMF, drawing objections from Washington, which considers some of the armed groups in the coalition, including Kataib Hezbollah, to be terrorist organizations.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Al-Sudani defended the proposed legislation, saying it's part of an effort to ensure that arms are controlled by the state. 'Security agencies must operate under laws and be subject to them and be held accountable,' he said.
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(WIRED attempted to contact several accounts in this ecosystem; some initially agreed to be interviewed, before growing suspicious that this reporter was 'a fed.') It's not exactly clear what this new crop of Bible-thumping paramilitary extremists thinks they're preparing or fighting for, given that President Donald Trump took office in January and stacked his administration with Christian nationalists. Since the emergence of the modern militia movement in the late 1980s, paramilitary activity has typically waxed and waned according to whichever political party was in power. Higher levels of paramilitary activity were generally observed during Democratic administrations, as movement leaders could rabble rouse and recruit around perceptions of an overreaching government or looming gun control, as well as conspiracy theories about a coming 'New World Order.' (To that end, Kill Evil sells a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan 'Christ World Order.') That pattern broke during the first Trump Administration, as militia activity surged, galvanized by the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories and anti-government sentiment. Groups within this new guard make their political views known through the type of content they share to Instagram Stories, which delete after 24 hours: for example, screenshots of posts by white nationalist Jared Taylor about immigration, posts about declining birth rates, or anti-Muslim memes. As for their broader mission, these militant influencers are generally preparing for 'end times,' they tend to say, though it's not always clear what that means. Some take an accelerationist approach, preparing for a conflict that they see as an inevitable response to 'degeneracy' and political decay. 'There is no more political solution,' one account posted in July, along with a photograph of a Roman bust portraying the Greek god of war, Ares, in Tivoli, Italy. 'Some hills are worth dying on, if not for yourself, for your children.' For others, the mission may be more about a primordial battle between good and evil, and coming 'armageddon.' 'If you don't train, you'll die,' one account posted, along with a photograph of a man in a skull mask and a long gun. 'Get together with friends, family, or do it alone. Whatever you gotta do, make sure that YOU aren't a liability.'
