Iraq militias show off weaponry in big, anniversary parade

Thousands of Iraqi militias paramilitary fighters, including powerful Iran-backed groups, marched at a military base in eastern Iraq on Saturday showcasing tanks and rocket launchers in their largest formal parade to date.

The event was attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, marked seven years since the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were shaped to fight the Sunni Muslim fanatical Daesh group.

“I esteem your sacrifices, and the sacrifices of the Iraqi armed forces” in fighting Daesh, Kadhimi said, cautioning against any “sedition” within the PMF, but without expounding.

The PMF’s founding created a state-sanctioned umbrella organization of mostly Shiite militias backed by Iran.

The Iran-aligned factions, which is the most influential in the PMF, have to defeat Daesh in 2017.

Iran extended their military, political and economic power.

They have associates in parliament and government and a solid grip over few state bodies, including security organizations.

Kadhimi, a US-friendly temporary chief, has tried to crack down on the most powerful Iran-backed factions but without achievement because of their military strength and political impact.

The parade, a demonstration of the military took place at a base once occupied by US troops near the border with Iran.
The PMF was designed in 2014 after Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani urged all able-bodied Iraqis to take up arms against Daesh, which had taken over a third of Iraq.