ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan — Despite Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's order for the Popular Mobilization Units to leave the Ninevah Plains, the 30th Brigade refuses to abandon an area there on the eastern edge of Mosul. The militia instead is cutting off roads in protest against Abdul Mahdi's order.

Pro-PMU lawmaker Qusay al-Shabaki told Reuters on Aug. 29, “We will stay in the area to protect our people.” This is while the Sunni and Kurdish opposition to the PMU presence in the area is growing. “The PMU is the main power in Ninevah province now — the army has become a secondary force,” Kurdish member of parliament Shirwan Dubardani told Reuters.

The dispute in the Ninevah Plains is about the future of the PMU in the region, especially the 30th Brigade, which is dominated by fighters of the Shabak minority.  It shows the depth of issues involved concerning security and politics in the disputed area. Will this area be annexed to the Kurdistan Region or will it remain governed by the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad?

The Shabak elite supporting more autonomy for the Shabak people in the Ninevah Plains objected to the government’s decision to withdraw the 30th Brigade, saying the militia contributed to a balance of power that favors the minority following years of Kurdish control.