Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF)

The Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), known in Arabic as al-Hashd al-Shaabi, are an Iraqi state-sanctioned paramilitary umbrella of mostly Shia factions, formed in June 2014 after the fall of Mosul to ISIS and a fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani calling on Iraqis to take up arms. The umbrella grew to comprise between roughly 50 and 70 separate militia groups, including smaller Sunni, Christian and Turkmen units.

A 2016 Iraqi parliamentary law formally incorporated the PMF into the country's security apparatus, with the network reporting to the prime minister's office. Several member factions, among them Kataib Hezbollah, nonetheless maintain independent command links to Iran's IRGC Quds Force and operate with substantial autonomy from Baghdad, leaving the PMF structurally split between state institution and Iran-aligned proxy network.

Kadhimiya, a Baghdad district and PMF stronghold, sits on the route of Ali Khamenei's funeral cortege to Najaf and Karbala on 8 July 2026; the PMF is organising the Iraqi leg of the procession alongside Iraqi state protocol , underscoring its role as Tehran's most visible domestic network inside Iraq.