“The Popular Mobilization Units are vital part of Iraq’s official defense system, which has been backed by the Iraq parliament,” Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat told Press TV on Friday.
He also stressed that the Iraqis were “very proud” of the PMU as they “have led the most impressive epic and heroic battles.”
Since the beginning of the counter-terrorism operation in Iraq, the PMU have provided significant and essential support for rebuilding security apparatuses in the Arab country, he said, noting that Iraq is now secure thanks to Hashd al-Sha’abi.
The commander further hailed recent operations along the Iraq-Syria border as a great achievement and a strategic move to prevent terrorist organizations from boosting their presence in the country.
Hashd al-Sha’abi was formed after the rise of ISIS in Iraq in 2014. In the early days of ISIS' terror campaign, the volunteer fighters played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army, which had suffered heavy setbacks in the face of lightening advances of the Takfiri militants.
Currently, they are actively cooperating with the Iraqi military and allied groups in a large-scale operation to fully liberate the northern city of Mosul, , the de facto capital of the ISIS terrorist group in the Middle Eastern state.
On November 26, 2016, the Iraqi parliament recognized Hashd al-Shaabi as an official force with similar rights as those of the regular army.
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24 June 2017 - 13:20
News ID: 838520
(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Iraq’s federal police chief has praised the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), commonly known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, for contributing significantly to the fight against the ISIS Takfiri terrorist group.
