Commission formed to investigate Hashd al-Shaabi shelling on Peshmerga: Spokesperson
High Commission is created with Peshmerga to investigate the bombardment of Hashd al-Shaabi forces on Peshmerga bases in Sinjar (Shingal), Hashd al-Shaabi spokesperson said on Friday.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A High Commission is created with Peshmerga to investigate the Hashd al-Shaabi forces shelling of Peshmerga bases in Sinjar (Shingal), the Shia militia spokesperson said on Friday.
Hashd al-Shaabi also known as Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) shelled Peshmerga positions near Shingal on early hours of Thursday morning with rockets and mortars, the spokesperson of Kurdish Peshmerga Ministry Halgurd Hikmat told Kurdistan24.
A Hashd al-Shaabi unit led by Wa’ad Mahmood Qadu, Commander of the 30th Brigade, attacked Peshmerga positions in Sino area near Shingal, according to Hikmat.
He believes the recent attacks were not ordered by the main commanders of the Hashd al-Shaabi. However, he said, it is the responsibility of Baghdad to prevent the sub-units within the militia from attacking others.
On Friday, in a live interview with Kurdistan24, the spokesperson of Hashd al-Shaabi Ahmed Assadi said a committee has been formed between both forces which are investigating the shelling to prevent similar incidents in future.
“We emphasize that Peshmerga is part of Iraqi forces. They are our brothers and partner in combating terrorism and defeating Da’esh,” he said, using Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (IS).
Assadi also mentioned that both forces cooperate effectively in Shingal area.
“Such mistakes won’t serve our ongoing successes [in the fight against the IS],” he continued. “I am certain that the bombardment was by mistake, aimed to target Da’esh in the area. If the investigation discovers that it was done on purpose, there will be retaliations.”
Hashd al-Shaabi consisted of over 51 Shia militia groups which were created by the fatwa of the top Iranian cleric in Iraq Ali al-Sistani in 2014 to fight the jihadist group in the country.
On November 26, 2016, the Iraqi parliament approved a bill recognizing the Hashd al-Shaabi Shia militias as part of Iraqi national army.
Sarbast Lezgin, a Peshmerga commander based in the vicinity of Shingal told Kurdistan24 on Thursday that it was not the first time the unit within the Hashd al-Shaabi attacked the Peshmerga forces.
“In December of last year alone, our positions were targeted four times. The shelling wounded one Peshmerga fighter,” Lezgin said.
He emphasized the attacks had not negatively affected the cooperation between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army, especially during the operation to liberate Mosul.
“But there are loosely supervised groups within Hashd al-Shaabi who wish to create tension,” he concluded.
Editing by Ava Homa