Iraq closes 71 fake Popular Mobilization headquarters, security services say

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi security services said they have shut down 71 headquarters operating under false claims of affiliation with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The units were scattered across Baghdad and other cities, often disguised as private security firms, civil society groups, economic offices or political movement buildings rather than military installations. Searches at the sites uncovered light and medium weapons, RPG-type rocket launchers, encrypted radios, surveillance cameras and drones, with ammunition sourced outside official inventories, according to the security services. Funding is reported to have come from extortion, off-the-books contracts, smuggling and informal economic checkpoints, while some personnel were formally registered with state institutions and seconded to the fake structures. The security services said the networks partly explain the movement space of "third-party" actors who used live ammunition and sniper fire during the October 2019 protests. Iraq's government has set a deadline of September 30, 2026, to consolidate arms under state control, with Prime Minister Ali Zeydi issuing a special draft law and the State Administration Alliance backing the process. Large formations including Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataib Imam Ali and Saraya Salam have formally transferred brigade command, the services said. However, Hezbollah Brigades, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Sayyid al-Shuhada have refused to hand over weapons, describing them as "resistance arms."