Monday, 31 August 2026

On August 30, a member of Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee said the committee was preparing to send the PMF law to Parliament for a vote, while separate reporting said provisions opposed by Washington had been removed from the legislation. The reported revision retains restructuring and retirement measures but omits a chief of staff and an “engineer”. The draft remains unpublished and no parliamentary voting schedule was available. A sit-in outside the PMF Commission in Basra demanded passage on August 30, ahead of a separately reported open-ended protest scheduled to begin Tuesday.

On the domestic front, Baghdad said the US-led coalition’s withdrawal and restrictions on arms were progressing smoothly and the formation of new armed groups was constitutionally prohibited, while Iraq’s deputy parliament speaker rejected bringing the Peshmerga into the disarmament file. Separately, a report said thousands of PKK fighters could join the Iraqi army under Turkish intelligence oversight; the supplied material contained no Iraqi confirmation.

On the economy, the Central Bank of Iraq froze assets belonging to senior officials, and authorities reported recovering 1.35 trillion dinars in an anti-corruption drive. Authorities also prevented a $14 million fraud involving state property in Anbar.

In the militia space, four faction-linked channels alleged explosions or missiles involving Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base on August 30, as detailed in the companion Militia Digest. No Iraqi faction claimed responsibility; the channels named no operator and did not establish that an attack occurred.

In the north, two people were killed in Halabja while handling explosive remains.

Four faction-linked channels reported explosions at Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base or missiles moving toward it on August 30. Sabereen News (KH — affiliated), Unit 10,000 (KH — affiliated) and Al-Janoub TV (Harakat al-Jihad wal-Bina — official) used missile wording, while Al-Ghadeer TV (Badr Organization — official) reported explosions. iNEWS (KSS — affiliated) went further, describing footage as a combined missile-and-drone launch against US bases in the region. No Iraqi faction claimed responsibility, and none of the channels named an operator or established that the reported attacks occurred.

On the intra-militia file, Mahdi al-Husseini (Sadiqoun Political Bureau — AAH) said the prime minister warned Faleh al-Fayyad of an alleged Saudi attack on PMF units three hours beforehand. Speaking on Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official), he accused Fayyad of alerting only Kataib Hezbollah, called him negligent and demanded a fact-finding committee, while denying Sadiqoun sought the PMF chairmanship. Abu Mithaq al-Masari, an independent politician on the same programme, said the brigades were warned because they were accused of shelling Saudi Arabia; unlike al-Husseini, he made no accountability demand.

On the economy, eight faction-linked channels carried a judiciary-attributed account that the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court seized assets from detained suspect Alaa Mohsen Khalaf. The reported seizure comprised 7 billion Iraqi dinars, $5.5 million, 35 properties and six vehicles. The channels described Khalaf as the office manager of detained suspect Adnan al-Jumaili and added no defence, ownership allegation or criticism of the action.

Press reports said the PMF evacuated headquarters or reduced its presence at sites in Anbar on August 31 in anticipation of possible attacks. No affected unit or faction order was identified, and neither report said an attack followed. The PMF had not acknowledged or denied the movement when the reports were published.

On the weapons file, Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official) reported that Kataib Hezbollah’s Wasit representation rejected handing over weapons and demanded passage of the PMF law. Sabereen News separately relayed Hadi al-Amiri saying the law would be enacted and praising the factions, but it did not attribute a weapons-refusal position to him. Only the Wasit gathering rejected a handover.

On internal affairs, channels across six factional networks relayed the Interior Ministry’s statement that five people in the Doura case were released while seven remained under legal procedures. Al-Nujaba TV (Nujaba — official) alone added that 12 people were arrested and that the rifle used to kill the brigadier was found with the accused. No militia claimed responsibility for the killing.