Al-Nujaifi urges separating Tribal Forces from PMF

Shafaq News- Nineveh

Former Nineveh governor Atheel Al-Nujaifi on Tuesday called on Iraq’s caretaker prime minister to formally separate Tribal Mobilization Forces (TMF) from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and place them under the Ministries of Defense or Interior, following recent attacks and subsequent US strikes.

In a statement, Al-Nujaifi accused some armed factions of acting outside the directives of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and attempting to draw Iraq into a conflict it does not wish to join. These actions, he added, had led to US strikes targeting those factions, with consequences that also affected civilians. “The price has been paid by innocent people.”

Formed in 2014 during the war against ISIS, the TMF consists primarily of Sunni tribal fighters later incorporated into Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state-recognized security umbrella. The TMF undertakes local security roles, including intelligence gathering, area stabilization, and counterinsurgency operations. They are mainly deployed in western and northern provinces such as Al-Anbar, Nineveh, and Saladin, where they operate within their tribal environments to support broader security efforts.

Al-Nujaifi proposed ending the official link between the TMF units and the PMF, and integrating them into state institutions to ensure they operate under direct government authority rather than factional command. He also called for dissolving PMF operational commands in predominantly Sunni areas and transferring full military responsibility in those regions to regular Iraqi security forces. “Such steps would help prevent residents of these areas from being drawn into conflicts not of their choosing”, Al-Nujaifi said, noting that it will reduce the risk of their involvement in externally driven confrontations.

The remarks follow a strike described by the Iraqi government as a joint US-Israeli attack that targeted a meeting at Habbaniyah base in Al-Anbar province on Monday, reportedly killing Saad Dawi and several associates, while the fate of other attendees remained unclear in the initial hours after the attack.

Earlier today, a guesthouse belonging to PMF chairman Falih Al-Fayyadh in northern Mosul was also targeted, alongside another site linked to Rayan Al-Kildani in the Qawsiyat area.

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