Two Iraqi militias linked to Iran announced this Tuesday that they will initiate procedures to cede their weaponry to the State and abandon the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), just one week after Saraya al Salam (Brigades of Peace), linked to the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr, adopted a similar decision.
The formations in question are Kataib al Imam Ali and Asaib Ahl al Haq -- also called the Jazali Network -- both classified as terrorist organizations by the United States.
The announcement comes after the official endorsement given on Monday by the Shiite coalition Coordination Framework, Iraq's main political bloc, to the initiative of Prime Minister Alí al Zaidi to restore the state monopoly on weapons, according to a statement released by the Iraqi news agency Shafaq.
In their statement, the two groups have decided to "break ties with the Popular Mobilization Forces and initiate procedures to place weaponry under state control, in accordance with the national will and the decision of (their) brothers in the Coordination Framework."
Likewise, they have stressed that this step responds to a sense of "national responsibility" and have detailed that the process includes an "inventory of all personnel, weapons, vehicles, and logistical supplies, as well as the organization of communication mechanisms with the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, in accordance with the needs of the State and its security institutions."
Last week, the Shiite cleric had already announced the full incorporation of Saraya al Salam (Brigades of Peace) into the official structures of the Iraqi state and urged the rest of the militias integrated into the PMF to follow the same path and disassociate themselves from "partisan and sectarian orders," "especially after the factions hand over their weapons to the State, as we advised them years ago."