Shafaq News- Saladin

Saraya al-Salam, the armed faction of the Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM) led by Muqtada al-Sadr, said on Tuesday it would remain in Samarra until security responsibility is fully transferred to Iraq's official security forces, hours after tensions erupted in the city over the appointment of a new security commander.

During a video press conference, a representative of the group announced Saraya al-Salam's complete disengagement from the PSM and integration into Iraqi state institutions, calling the step a commitment to state stability, the rule of law, and Iraq's unity. He also expressed the group's commitment to protecting the city and serving its residents and visitors.

Samarra is home to the Al-Askari Shrine, one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites. Its golden dome was destroyed by terrorists in a bombing in February 2006, while the shrine's two minarets were targeted in a second attack less than 16 months later, triggering a wave of sectarian violence that killed thousands of Iraqis. After ISIS seized large areas of the country in 2014, Saraya al-Salam deployed in and around Samarra to help protect the shrine and the city.

While rejecting any security directives aimed at changing the current reality in Samarra, the group’s representative insisted that responsibility for the city should not remain subject to political or partisan considerations and called on the Iraqi government to form a committee headed by the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, to oversee the transition of the security file and ensure stability in the city.

Security sources told Shafaq News on Monday that members of Saraya al-Salam opposed the appointment of a new commander for the Samarra Operations Command, citing his affiliation with Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the dismissed commander's perceived proximity to the group.

The dispute comes against the backdrop of longstanding tensions between Saraya al-Salam and Asaib Ahl al-Haq. The latter's leader, Qais al-Khazali, split from al-Sadr's movement and the Mahdi Army before founding the group. Rivalry between the two factions has periodically led to political disputes and armed confrontations in several southern provinces, including Basra and Maysan.

Last month, al-Sadr and Al-Khazali announced the disengagement of their armed wings and directed their members to integrate into official institutions as part of broader efforts to consolidate weapons under exclusive state authority, a central pillar of al-Zaidi's government program.

Read more: Iraq to place armed factions' weapons under state control: What we know so far