Iraq VP: Shia PMF will not enter Tel Afar

Iraqi Vice President Osama Al-Nujaifi said today that an agreement had been reached between Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and the US-led coalition that would see the Iran-backed Shia militias prevented from entering Tel Afar, Al Jazeera reported today.

Speaking to the Qatar-based news network, Al-Nujaifi said that the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) would instead be limited to cutting the land route between Tel Afar, about 60 kilometres west of Mosul, and the Syrian border.

According to the Iraqi vice president, one of three in the country’s confessional-based system, if the PMF breaks this agreement and enters Tel Afar, then it may lead to a larger regional intervention.

His comments could be taken as suggesting that Turkey may move to protect the ethnic Turkmen population of Tel Afar, as Ankara had previously threatened to intervene should the PMF and other Iran-backed units attempt to commit sectarian atrocities against them.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously warned of Iranian infiltration of Iraq that represents a threat to the population of Mosul, Iraq’s second city, and the Turkmen people. This has drawn a sharp rebuke from Tehran, who claims that they are only in Iraq at Baghdad’s behest.

Qais Al-Khaz’ali, PMF commander and leader of the Asaib Ahl Al-Haq Shia militia, said before the start of operations to recapture Mosul from Daesh militants that the PMF would fight even in Mosul, no matter what anyone wanted or said.

The PMF has the direct backing of Iran, and its commanders have been frequently captured on camera meeting with Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force.