Iraqi PM Kadhimi establishes operations command in conflict-ridden Maysan

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has announced the formation of the Maysan Operations Command to consolidate the southern Iraqi province's security amid continued instability and violence. 

The decision comes as the province has been experiencing tribal skirmishes, shootings, and drug-related violence. An anti-drug judge was shot 15 times there by unknown assailants on Saturday. 

To restore security to the province, Prime Minister Kadhimi ordered the establishment of the Command, according to the Iraqi military's media, known as Security Media Cell.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Zubaidi is assigned to take the leadership of the Command, according to the Media Cell. 

Following the assassination of Judge Ahmed Faisal al-Sa'di on Saturday, Iraq's top judicial authority blamed security failure in the province for the tragedy, calling on the prime minister to take security measures. 

In the past four years, over 1,000 people have been killed in Maysan's tribal conflicts, Issa Al-Naji, a member of the province's tribal conflicts resolution committee, told state-media Iraq News Agency in December 2021. 

The trade of illegal narcotics in Maysan is widespread. 

The Iraqi Interior Ministry ranks Maysan and Basra, both bordering Iran, as the "leading southern provinces in terms of trafficking and consumption".