(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Every time Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) participate in anti-terror operations of the Iraqi army and make new gains on the ground and triumphs are made and the Iraqi cities are cleansed of the terrorists, the foreign voices accusing the voluntary PMF of violations rise. As the Iraqi government makes final preparations to launch an assault to take back Mosul from ISIS terrorist group, a new wave of anti-PMF media propaganda starts operating. The very latest of the media campaign is a report by Reuters that published new accusations against the anti-ISIS voluntary forces. The report was circulated by some newspapers and websites in a bid to make the Iraqis' determination waver. Interview with the spokesman for Iraq’s Public Mobilization Forces Abu Jafar al-Assadi.
Q: How true are the recent allegations by the Reuters about what it called aggressions and violations during Fallujah operation as well as kidnapping and even killing of the Sunni Muslims in the city by the PMF?
Abu Jafar: We have thousands of evidences that prove that existence of the PMF in Fallujah and during the Al-Saqlawiyah liberation operation was for helping and protecting the civilians and for evacuating them and providing assistance to them. But concerning the detainees during the operation, I must tell you that it was the Al Anbar police command that was supervising arresting of the suspects. Every detainee was directly handed over to the police command. There were thousands of suspects who were interrogated by Al Anbar police command. A majority of them were released after investigation. The rest were found guilty or were on the wanted list of the country's security forces. The PMF didn't arrest anybody, it just backed the security forces, and helped the displaced people and sheltered them. The PMF also had hand in transferring them to safe places, and providing them with necessary facilities.
Q: The Reuters claimed that over 700 Sunnis from all walks of life are still missing after two months of liberation of Fallujah which was the stronghold of the terrorists. The media outlet claimed that there were violations in the city despite the fact that the US tried to limit PMF’s role by threatening to withhold the air cover from the advancing Iraqi forces, according to some American and Iraqi officials. Also, the news agency said that PMF killed 66 Sunnis and abused or tortured 1,500 others during their escape from Fallujah. All these charges are aimed at the PMF, how do you respond?
Abu Jafar: Concerning the 700 missing people in Al-Saqlawiyah, we moved fast and a committee was formed by the Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the chief of Al Anbar police. The head of Inquiry committee after investigation almost a month ago announced that the names are only 600 and not 700. The media and some politicians said that they were kidnapped, however, the committee found that the names were fake and had no tracks in the country's official civil registration. They even were not found on the list of families that reported their members missing. They are simply fake names and are raised for media propaganda purposes. We absolutely deny these allegations.
Q: Some Arab and Western media, in addition to some Arab politicians and news website, describe the PMF as a sectarian militant force with an all-Shiite structure, and that it only aims at violating the Sunni people's rights and marginalizing them. What do you say?
Abu Jafar: The PMF is a national voluntary military force. It is an official part of body of the Iraqi military forces, and was announced by the government as an official military power. It is not confined to a specific sectarian group. The PMF includes 25,000 Sunni fighters, and let me add our brothers from Mosul. The Sunni Muslims account for 19 percent of the total number of the fighters in the PMF. Let me add the fighters from Mosul to make the percentage rise to 26 or 27 percent. They are from majorly Sunni provinces. From western provinces like Al Anbar we have 10,800 fighters from the tribal mobilization forces. They are a key part of the PMF. Furthermore, we have 7,000 fighters from Salaheddin and 2,000 others from Diyala. There are big numbers also from other Sunni regions. So, the sectarianism brand that they are trying to pin on us is something fake to make divisions and to discourage the efforts and sacrifices of the Sunni and Shiite Muslims equally.
Q: As the armed forces seek opening new front against the terrorists in the country the anti-PMF media campaigns are activated. This is what we are seeing today as Mosul recapture operation is nearing, why?
Abu Jafar: There are different reasons for these media campaigns. Some of them are launched by the politicians and also the prepaid media which are pursuing clear regional agendas. They are targeting the PMF because it is the strongest institution that can make breakthroughs in coordination with the other armed forces of the country. They aim to impair it, and dig a gap between it and other government institutions. They want to portrait it to the public opinion at home and out of the country as working in separation from the government and the law, and is making violations. But their allegations are untrue. I think these campaigns are to support ISIS terrorist group that has become weak and is breathing its last as some regions are cleansed of it. Therefore, these claims are actually a backing for this terrorist group aiming at beefing up its morale, and at the same time are trying to destroy morale of the army, the PMF, and other armed forces as a supportive step for the terrorists.
Q: A UN team said that the destruction in Ramadi is shocking in comparison to other places in Iraq due to the bombs rained down on the city by the US-led international military coalition. As a last question, how do you assess the role of the US-led coalition compared to the PMF's in terms of operationality and Iraqi public acceptance?
Abu Jafar: Of course in terms of public acceptance we cannot make any comparison. We have experiences from this coalition that contains forces that were occupying Iraq, and have no popular approval. However, because it entered the country according to agreement with the central government, its role would be in accordance with the Iraqi law. In terms of its activities on the ground, the international coalition cannot be compared to the PMF. The PMF itself launches operations on the ground and liberates areas. A majority of the operations in which the PMF took part witnessed no real participation of the US-led military coalition. In Al Anbar, too, the coalition didn't take part, and the results are clear now. So, in a majority of the operations, the coalition's participation was either limited or non-existent. Additionally, the PMF always tried to conclude the operations with least possible tolls and damages of the infrastructures or personal properties. This cost us time and sacrifices. Contrary to our way of liberating the areas was the method of the coalition that destroyed areas in their entirety. It ignores the damages it is imposing on Iraq and the Iraqis. So we cannot make any comparison between the PMF and the US-led coalition in terms of the methods and triumphs.
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