Shafaq News- Karbala

On Saturday, Saraya al-Salam, the armed wing of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM), removed senior officials in Karbala hours after the cleric ordered a sweeping overhaul following a deadly armed attack.

According to internal documents, the faction dismissed the heads of the Security and Intelligence apparatuses in Brigade 302, citing “lack of competence,” and reassigned them outside those units. Command of the bodies was placed under central control pending the selection of replacements.

In a separate directive, Saraya al-Salam expelled Basim Miri al-Kartoushi from all formations, attributing the decision to “deliberate negligence in carrying out assigned duties.”

On Friday, an armed attack in central Karbala killed one person and wounded another, a security source told Shafaq News, identifying the victims as members of the Azharion group, a splinter faction that broke away from the PSM. In response, al-Sadr ordered a comprehensive leadership shake-up, set a five-day deadline to withdraw weapons from the group’s formations in the city, directed the confiscation of vehicles used in the clashes, and launched a one-month vetting process alongside an investigation into those involved.