Iraq cracks down on illegal arms flow to militias, armed groups
Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government has launched a campaign in southern provinces to get illegal arms out of the hands of militias and tribal groups.
Iraq’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani encouraged Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government on Sept. 14 to proceed with its campaign to crackdown on possession of illegal weapons by armed groups outside of state control, in a rare stance for the religious authority.
In the past, the authority would call for maintaining security in general, but this time, Sistani encouraged the government’s plan. Kadhimi now has Sistani’s support to focus on armed groups and factions claiming to work alongside the official Iraqi forces.
The Iraqi security forces took to carrying out a wide-scale campaign Sept. 5, to withdraw illigal arms in the southern provinces. The campaign started in Basra province, where tribal feuds are ongoing. It seems that the government is targeting heavy weapons at this stage, postponing the confiscating of all light weapons for another time.
Basra Operational Command in the far south of Iraq announced Sept. 12 that it “will not confiscate light weapons and will allow one weapon per house only.”
