Islam Times - Volunteer forces must be under Iraqi government control: Ayatollah Sistani

Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani says the volunteer forces, who helped the army eradicate Daesh terrorists from the homeland, should be “incorporated” into state bodies.

In a message delivered at the Friday sermon in the holy city of Kerbala through one of his representatives, Ayatollah Sistani said all weapons used during the battles against Daesh should be brought under the control of the Iraqi government.

In 2014, the Daesh terror group managed to make sweeping territorial gains in Iraq’s western and northern parts. Shortly afterwards, Ayatollah Sistani issued a fatwa, calling on all Iraqi citizens to defend their country in the face of terrorists.

The fatwa helped Shia fighters, Sunni tribesmen as well as Christian and Yezidi volunteers gather under one umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), commonly known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, to reverse Daesh’s gains.