The Hashd of North Baghdad: Interview

While the war to reclaim control of Iraqi territory from the Islamic State ended many years ago, the conglomeration of groups under the Hashd Sha‘abi Commission (“Popular Mobilisation Commission”) has continued to expand, participating in the continual efforts to suppress Islamic State insurgent activity and keep it in check. One example of such a trend is the formation and organisation of Hashd groups in the north Baghdad area, consolidated last year in the form of the “North Baghdad Brigade” (Liwa’ Shamal Baghdad), which is directly affiliated with the Hashd Sha‘abi Commission’s secretariat general. The north Baghdad area had been a hotspot of Islamic State insurgent activity in the post-’territorial caliphate but the formation of local Hashd groups has helped to suppress that activity. Despite the reports of Islamic State operations increasing in the Iraq-Syria area, it is to be noted that in so far as there is an uptick in activity, it is taking place in Syria.

Below is an interview I conducted with Sadiq al-‘Isawi, media representative for the al-Tarmiya Regiment, which is one of the formations within the North Baghdad Brigade. The interview concerns the origins of the north Baghdad Hashd and its development. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.

Q: When was the al-Tarmiya Regiment formed and what were the reasons for it?