The Iraqi government is embarrassed at the clashes between the Popular Mobilization factions, 7 JAN

The Iraqi government is embarrassed at the clashes between the Popular Mobilization factions

Safaa al-Kubaisi

January 06, 2024

Supporters of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization raise the image of Soleimani and the engineer (Ahmed Al-Rubaie/France Presse)

+The line–

Armed clashes took place, yesterday, Friday, between the Iraqi groups of “Asa’i’ Ahl al-Haq” and “Jund al-Imam” in one of the towns in the city of Basra, during a ceremony organized to commemorate the assassination of the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy head of the “Popular Mobilization”, Abu Mahdi Al-Mondis, which raises concern about the repetition of these clashes and increases the embarrassment of the position of the Iraqi government.

The Basra Mobilization Operations Command confirmed that the clash was carried out by groups it called “undisciplined” to reduce its impact. She stated, in a statement on Friday evening, that “the Popular Mobilization Authority in Basra organized the festival and uncontrolled and non-PF groups provoked sedition among the masses, which led to gunshots,” stressing that “these individuals, who belong to a person named (Alaa Al-Mohammadawi), were arrested and all legal measures will be taken against them.”

For his part, the official of the “Jund al-Imam” group, Alaa Al-Mohammadawi, said on the statement, criticizing his group’s description of the “undisciplined” group. Adding, in a statement, “We regret the statements and statements issued against us that stripped us of our jihadist history in defending the homeland, religion, doctrine and belonging to the holy crowd,” noting that “whatever is issued against us from our skin, we will not respond, in order to preserve the reputation of the mujahideen and the reputation of the crowd,” he said, but we will not accept to be stripped of belonging to the crowd.

The armed clash is not the first of its kind between the factions, as a similar clash took place 10 days ago and confrontations erupted between the military wing of the Sadrist movement, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, “Saraya Al-Peace” and militants from the “Ahl-Haq” militia in the area of the Al-Amel neighborhood in central Baghdad, due to the dispute over the uploading of a large picture that includes Qassem Soleimani and Abu Al-Mahdi Al-Mundis in the region, which is one of the most prominent areas of influence of the Sadrists.

The position of the Iraqi government

A political source familiar with the “new Arab” said that “these confrontations are an inevitable result of different agendas and interests, but the embarrassing thing in them is the position of the government, which represents the rule of the law,” and added, preferring not to be named, that “the frequency of confrontations is an indicator of the deepening state of differences and division between factions whose names have multiple names,” noting that “the government and security forces always seek to calm in order to preserve security.”

The source stressed that “the position of the Iraqi government is embarrassing, as these confrontations are a departure from the law and from the authority of the state and a threat to societal security, and that the government is required to apply the law to everyone, and that its attempts to calm down indicate weak government procedures and weak state authority.”

The scenes of armed clashes between various Iraqi factions with their agendas and destinations, which are repeated in the country’s governorates, raise the Iraqi government’s concern about its serious effects on community security and state authority in general, especially since these factions have a significant military strength and arsenal. As the government and security forces seek to calm down, politicians say the government is required to impose its authority on everyone.