Iraqi parliament committee summons security officials over unevacuated Hashd al-Shaabi headquarters

BAGHDAD, Iraq — An investigative committee of the Iraqi parliament has summoned senior security and military officials to examine why headquarters belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) were not evacuated before airstrikes by the United States and Saudi Arabia. The committee invited several figures to testify on Monday, including the head of the Prime Minister's Office and Chief of Staff, Abdulameer al-Shammari, according to a parliamentary statement. The chairman of the Hashd al-Shaabi, the Chief of Staff, the force's chief of staff Abu Fadek, and a senior Interior Ministry official, Hussein al-Awadi, were also summoned. The panel will ask the officials to explain the reasons the headquarters were not cleared in a coordinated manner ahead of the strikes. The summons comes amid growing debate over the use of Iraqi airspace by foreign forces. The inquiry is intended to determine whether internal coordination was insufficient to prevent the airstrikes on the headquarters. The committee is expected to prepare a report and submit it to parliament once the testimonies are concluded.