What do Iraq’s latest militia disarmament pledges really mean for state authority?
LONDON: Iraqi officials like to say that the “age of militias” is ending. On paper, the past few weeks seem to support that narrative.
Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, a hardline Iran-aligned faction, announced it would disengage from the Popular Mobilization Forces and place its weapons under state control, following a similar move by Kataib Al-Imam, and influential cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr’s Saraya Salam, or Peace Brigades.
At first glance, these decisions suggest a system long defined by fractured, overlapping — and at times opposing — chains of command might be inching toward a new security order. For many Iraqis, however, the question is not what these factions declare but how far they will go.
Disarmament committees and carefully worded communiques are familiar features of Baghdad’s political theater. The real test is whether groups that have spent years building arsenals, economic influence and patronage networks are ready to surrender power.
