Mohammad Ali
The New Arab / August 18, 2026
Baghdad – Iraq has arrested senior Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) intelligence official Abbas al-Yaqoubi as tensions mount over Baghdad’s push to bring militia weapons under state control.
Iraqi security forces have detained a senior commander in the Iran-aligned Harakat al-Nujaba group, in a move that could intensify tensions between the government and armed factions resisting efforts to bring weapons under state control.
Abbas Hussein al-Yaqoubi, a senior Nujaba figure who also serves as an intelligence official within Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), was detained on Monday in the southern province of Dhi Qar, according to Iraqi officials and security sources.
Security sources in Baghdad told The New Arab that a special unit linked to Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service raided a residential building about 360 kilometres south of Baghdad and detained Yaqoubi.
Helicopters and armoured vehicles accompanied the force during the operation, according to one security source. The unit subsequently left Dhi Qar for Baghdad without clashes.
The Iraqi News Agency also reported Yaqoubi’s detention, identifying him as the intelligence chief for Harakat al-Nujaba and an intelligence director for the PMF’s Baghdad Belt Operations Command.
The PMF, however, said Yaqoubi had voluntarily surrendered to the authorities.
No official reason for the arrest was immediately disclosed.
But a former Iraqi lawmaker from the Fatah Alliance told The New Arab that the detention was linked to investigations into drone attacks carried out in recent months. He provided no further details.
Yaqoubi has also been accused of involvement in attacks targeting US forces in Iraq.
Platforms affiliated with Iraqi armed factions described the detention as a “kidnapping” and called for demonstrations in the Fadhiliya area of Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qar province.
Pressure over militia weapons
The arrest comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Iraq’s government as a late-September deadline approaches for bringing weapons under state control.
Several armed factions linked to the PMF have categorically rejected surrendering their weapons while US forces remain in Iraq, raising the prospect of a confrontation with the government.
Harakat al-Nujaba, led by Akram al-Kaabi, is among Iraq’s most powerful Iran-aligned armed factions. The United States has designated the group a terrorist organisation.
The detention could become an early test of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s willingness and ability to confront factions refusing to comply with the government’s disarmament push.
Othman al-Shaibani, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defence Committee, recently described warnings issued by Zaidi over the weapons issue as “extremely serious”.
In a televised interview, Shaibani said the prime minister had warned that if Iraqi institutions failed to disarm armed groups themselves, outside powers, particularly the United States, could take matters into their own hands.
“Zaidi clearly warned that if national institutions are unable to carry out their duties in disarming the factions, the international community, particularly the American side, will undertake the task itself,” Shaibani said.
Such intervention would not necessarily be limited to political pressure, he added, warning that it could escalate to strikes and targeted killings against faction positions.
The government, Shaibani noted, was seeking to avoid such a scenario by resolving the issue domestically and bringing armed groups under state authority.
‘Last chance’ before 30 September
According to Shaibani, Zaidi has warned that failure to address the armed factions could expose Iraq to international isolation and severe economic consequences, potentially including restrictions on financial transfers and the flow of oil revenues.
Such measures could ultimately affect Baghdad’s ability to meet its financial obligations and pay public-sector salaries, he said.
Shaibani also claimed the prime minister had warned of the possibility of renewed international oversight of Iraq and a return to measures associated with Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which he said would undermine the country’s sovereignty.
The government views 30 September as a “last chance” to avoid those consequences, according to Shaibani.
He said Zaidi had expressed a willingness to confront any group refusing to surrender its weapons and viewed bringing arms under state control as non-negotiable, “whatever the cost, even his life”.
Yaqoubi’s detention could bring that confrontation closer.
With some of Iraq’s most powerful armed factions insisting they will not disarm as long as American troops remain in the country, the arrest of a senior Nujaba figure risks becoming more than an isolated security operation, and instead an early indication of how far Baghdad is prepared to go to enforce its deadline.
Mohammad Ali – journalist reporting from Baghdad
