The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also called al-Hashd al-Shaabi, is a broad coalition of Iraqi militias that came together in 2014 to fight ISIS when the Iraqi army alone was unable to prevent ISIS from taking over broad swathes of the country. The PMF took the lead in defeating ISIS along the Iraqi front. As a result of its success, the Iraqi government formally recognized it as an auxiliary to the armed forces, granting legitimacy to the coalition and salaries to its fighters.
The PMF includes militias from several different political orientations, including Iran-backed Shiʿi militias, Shiʿi militias that oppose Iranian intervention in Iraq, and militias that represent Sunni, Christian, and Yazidi communities. The predominant militias are Iranian-backed members of the Axis of Resistance, including Kataeb Hezbollah, the Badr Organization, ʿAṣāʾib Ahl al-Ḥaqq, and oppose U.S. intervention in Iraq.
Despite the PMF’s status as an auxiliary to the armed forces, it was not fully integrated and some of the constituent militias continue to operate independently of the state, including attacking U.S. forces during periods of tension. Under pressure from the United States in 2026, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered the militias to come under direct state authority.