May 2020. Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a collection of 40 odd predominantly Shi’a armed groups (‘the Hashd’), came into being to fight a war against ISIL in 2014. Now, they are mobilising to combat the spread of COVID-19 across the country. To be sure, Iraq’s inefficiencies in administering public services means the country needs all the help it can get to manage the virus; but for the Hashd, the campaign is also an opportunity to win renewed public confidence. Iraq’s battle against COVID-19 has largely slipped under the radar of international scrutiny as nations across the globe struggle to manage their own COVID-19 related domestic crises. As of 27 April, the official count of those affected in Iraq stood at 1820 recorded cases and 87 deaths: a fraction of the confirmed cases in European countries or the US. But given the limited medical resources of Iraq’s governorates and the extreme lack of public trust in Iraq’s public health sector, few people believe that this figure comes anywhere close to the reality.
May 2020. Covid 19 comes to Iraq
