Popular Mobilisation Forces

A PMF member holds a picture of Iran's late and current supreme leaders Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (R) and Ali Khamenei to mark annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations in Baghdad on April 5, 2024.

Iraq moves to give PMF greater role in state security

The US wants this huge Iran-aligned group to disband, but with 240,000 personnel, an arsenal of weapons, and a $3.4bn annual budget, the PMF is closer to becoming an integral part of the Iraqi state

Ayad Al-Anbar 03, Apr 2025

Mourners march with a symbolic coffin during a memorial service for Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut days earlier, in Baghdad's Sadr City on September 29, 2024.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP

Iraqi militias open a cautious front to help Hezbollah

On Monday, three rockets were fired at the Victoria military base in Baghdad hosting US troops. A day earlier, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed a drone attack on the Israeli port city of Eilat.

Salam Zaidan 01, Oct 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to declare the annexation of the Russian-controlled territories of four Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, in Moscow, Russia, September 30, 2022. Sputnik/Grigory Sysoyev/Pool via REUTERS

Putin Gives Final Approval to Ukraine Annexation Plan Despite Retreats

Russian President Vladimir Putin formalised the annexation of four Ukrainian regions on Wednesday despite major battlefield reversals in recent days shrinking the amount of seized territory Moscow…

05, Oct 2022

Russian law enforcement officers lead away a person during a rally, after opposition activists called for street protests against the mobilisation of reservists ordered by President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, Russia September 24, 2022. REUTERS

Complaints About Russia's Chaotic Mobilization Grow

The strongly pro-Kremlin editor of Russia's state-run RT news channel expressed anger on Saturday that enlistment officers were sending call-up papers to the wrong men, as frustration about a…

25, Sep 2022

Russian paratroopers walk before boarding Ilyushin Il-76 transport planes as they take part in the military exercises "Zapad-2021" staged by the armed forces of Russia and Belarus at an aerodrome in Kaliningrad Region, Russia, September 13, 2021. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar

Reaction to Russia Mobilising More Troops for Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two and warned that Moscow would defend itself with the might of all its vast arsenal if faced with a nuclear…

21, Sep 2022

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There is no better time to disarm Hezbollah

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With both Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons at their weakest point, Lebanon has a fleeting opportunity to restore its eroded sovereignty

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Then and now: My two very different visits to Damascus

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After the euphoria of liberation has worn off, Syrians are now confronted with the daunting task of a country ripped apart by a decade-long war. It will be a long road, but people are hopeful.

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US President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2025.

SAUL LOEB / AFP

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Trump's Iran strategy is irking Israel

24 April 2025

What concerns the Israelis is not a possible return to JCPOA-era caps, but how quickly the Trump administration is willing to make concessions

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A man dressed as a clown entertains children at a makeshift school in a camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir El-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on April 27, 2024.

AFP

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The clowns trying to cheer up Gaza's traumatised children

24 April 2025

Uncle Zezo, Uncle Mickey, and Dr Alloush perform in displacement shelters and hospitals, striving to restore fragments of a joy last felt in 2023. Al Majalla meets them.

Houssam Marouf

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Attempts to destabilise Jordan bear hallmarks of the 'axis'

23 April 2025

Iran's lingering influence can be seen in the recent arrest of 16 individuals in Jordan, believed to be manufacturing drones

Alia Mansour

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LATEST ISSUE

Iraq moves to give PMF greater role in state security

Iraqi militias open a cautious front to help Hezbollah

Putin Gives Final Approval to Ukraine Annexation Plan Despite Retreats

Complaints About Russia's Chaotic Mobilization Grow

Reaction to Russia Mobilising More Troops for Ukraine

There is no better time to disarm Hezbollah

Then and now: My two very different visits to Damascus

Trump's Iran strategy is irking Israel

The clowns trying to cheer up Gaza's traumatised children

Attempts to destabilise Jordan bear hallmarks of the 'axis'

OPINIONS

Will Trump's 'final' push for Ukraine ceasefire pay off?

India and Pakistan could come to blows over Kashmir

The clowns trying to cheer up Gaza's traumatised children

Trump's Iran strategy is irking Israel

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