Sources: Baghdad shuts Shia militia outposts

Militants can be seen raising the Iraq and Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) flag, 27 January 2017 [Mahmoud Hosseini/Wikipedia]

Iraqi security forces have closed four “unauthorised” Popular Mobilisation Forces (Hashd Al-Shaabi) outposts and detained a number of its members, according to a local security source.

“Security forces late Thursday night raided four outposts thought to be linked to the PMF in downtown Baghdad’s Karrada district,” the source told the Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity today.

According to the same source, the operation also saw the arrest of “several” PMF members.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry, for its part, has yet to officially comment on the alleged incident.

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The PMF was established in 2014 to fight Daesh which had overrun much of northern and western Iraq earlier in the year.

In 2017, the OMF was formally incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces.

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