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The prevailing confusion in Iraq and abroad over the role of the Popular Mobilization Units in the military operations and impact on the present and future political decisions in Iraq can be explained by this military force — which consists of volunteers and members of armed groups — having been so far the most efficient force in countering the Islamic State (IS), as it succeeded in shrinking the risks of a possible IS expansion to Baghdad and southern Iraq.
Despite the misunderstanding and conflicting information on the units’ nature and activities, its legitimacy derives from “the righteous jihad” fatwa that was issued June 2014 by the highest Shiite authority in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
