BAGHDAD (Middle East Eye) – The Hashd al-Sha’abi popular mobilization forces has doubled in size over the past two years, making it the third-largest force in the country, documents related to Iraq’s draft budget seen by Middle East Eye suggest.
The proposed 2023 budget, which the government submitted to parliament last month and has been reviewed by MEE, shows the Hashd is about half the size of the regular military. Security forces under the interior ministry are about three times the size of the mobilization forces.
If passed, the new budget would give Hashd al-Sha’abi 3.56 trillion Iraqi dinars ($2.7bn), which is a significant increase in Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters over just two years.
Hashd al-Sha’abi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), was established in June 2014 to unite armed factions and volunteers to fight against the Daesh terrorist group. PMU is a governmental umbrella that oversees the various groups’ activities.
Prominent armed factions, such as the Badr Organisation and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, represent the Hashd’s backbone and strike force.
These forces have become part of the Iraqi military since 2016 and are funded entirely by the government.
MEE has obtained appendices to the 2021 budget and 2023 draft budget, which are reserved for members of the government and parliament. These show the number of people on the state payroll.
They record that over two years, the ranks of the Hashd swelled by 116,000 fighters, now standing at 238,000 overall.
In comparison, the number of soldiers and other employees in the defence ministry grew by just 25,000 over the same period, up to 450,000 people. Similarly, the interior ministry’s numbers grew no more than 22,250, to over 700,000 overall.
Though interior ministry security forces outnumber the regular military and the Hashd, the majority are non-combatant civil and policing units, Iraqi military commanders and security officials told MEE.
Some security officials noted that there are discussions about altering the responsibilities of the federal police, where the Hashd would instead take on its armed response role - which may explain the large increase in paramilitary fighters.
However, other sources saw the rise in numbers as indicative of a different trend.
A prominent security official told MEE that, “whether we like it or not”, the Hashd is in effect the military wing of the Coordination Framework, a political alliance that dominates Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani’s government.