Samarra Returns to Calm After Detention of Former Operations Commander

The city of Samarra witnessed significant security tensions yesterday following a decision by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Commission to remove the current commander of Samarra Operations, Ali Abdullah Lafta al-Aqili, and appoint Sheikh Yusuf Mazban Nasif Raghif as his replacement.

The decision was immediately rejected by the leadership of Saraya al-Salam, which viewed the move as an attempt to alter the security balance in favor of other armed factions. In response, Saraya al-Salam fighters blocked the entrances to the city, deployed armed personnel throughout the streets, and clashes erupted, including exchanges of gunfire with another armed faction.

Saraya al-Salam later issued a statement affirming its determination to remain in Samarra to protect the holy shrines and rejecting any directives that would alter the existing security arrangement. The group insisted that responsibility for the security file should only be transferred to the Iraqi Army and Federal Police, away from political rivalries and factional competition.

The escalation came only days after Saraya al-Salam had begun symbolic procedures to separate itself from the Sadrist Movement, in apparent response to calls for restricting weapons exclusively to state institutions. However, the events quickly demonstrated the fragility of that commitment. It was not long before the group reasserted its military presence and imposed its will on the ground, suggesting that the slogan of “state monopoly on arms” may have been little more than a temporary political position.

Direct intervention by Muqtada al-Sadr through Hassan al-Hamidawi, as well as intervention by PMF leadership through Yasser al-Issawi, brought the armed standoff to an end. The former commander, who is affiliated with the Sadrist Movement, was detained, while the newly appointed commander officially assumed his duties.

The situation gradually returned to stability, although Saraya al-Salam brigades will remain temporarily in place until their formal integration process is completed or the entire security file is transferred to the Ministries of Defense and Interior.

Conclusion:

The same force that only days ago was publicly endorsing the transfer of authority to the state was among the first to take up arms when faced with a direct challenge. The episode underscores the extent to which the issue of limiting weapons to state control in Iraq remains dependent on power balances among armed actors rather than on official decisions or public declarations.

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