Armed group profile · SD Strength Index
Popular Mobilization Forces: military strength 2026
How strong are the Popular Mobilization Forces in 2026?
On paper, very large. Iraqi budget laws fund between 200,000 and 238,000 salaries, and the PMF's chairman has claimed 204,000. A salary is not a soldier, though. Nobody outside the organisation has counted how many of those men could actually be put in the field.
Silent Dossier ranks the PMF just behind Sudan's Rapid Support Forces and just ahead of Haftar's Libyan National Army. State money and sheer size keep it high on the table. A fractured command keeps it from climbing further.
How much of the PMF is professional and how much is irregular?
The PMF is a legal state commission, created by Law 40 of 2016, with 67 to 70 numbered brigades. In practice it works as a coalition whose biggest factions keep their own chains of command.
The hard core sits in the hardline factions aligned with Iran. Silent Dossier estimates it at 21,000 to 30,000 fighters: Kataib Hezbollah with an estimated 10,000 to 15,000, Nujaba with 8,000 to 10,000 and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada with 3,000 to 5,000. That total leaves out Badr, which controls the heavy units but whose strength is not known.
At the other end stand 40,000 to 50,000 Sunni tribal fighters in Anbar, Nineveh and Salahaddin. They are lightly armed and tied to their home districts. Minority units and static checkpoint brigades fill out the rest, while the shrine units loyal to Grand Ayatollah Sistani moved under the Defence Ministry from 2020. Quality runs from competent Badr and Kataib Hezbollah cadres down to men who guard roadblocks.
What weapons does the PMF have?
Its heavy armour is thin and poorly counted. A 2021 parade showed at least six T-72 tanks fitted with Iranian reactive armour, possibly 12, along with at least 14 Iranian Toofan armoured vehicles and Raad 122mm rocket launchers. Up to nine M1 Abrams were reported diverted from the Iraqi army in 2018. Field artillery exists but has never been counted. The PMF has no aircraft.
The real punch is in drones and rockets. A few dozen Iranian short range ballistic missiles of the Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar families were reported handed over by 2018, a figure now well out of date. One way attack drones launched from Iraq reached Israel in 2024, and Silent Dossier puts the factions' strike reach at an estimated 700 to 1,000 km. Kataib Hezbollah runs most of the drone fleet. The factions also claim cruise missile strikes, which nobody has verified.
Who backs the Popular Mobilization Forces?
The Iraqi state pays for it, roughly $2.6bn to $3.6bn a year, mostly in salaries. That budget is Baghdad's strongest lever over the force. Iran's IRGC Quds Force backs the aligned factions, several of which also have income outside the state budget.
What happened to the PMF in 2026?
From October 2023 the factions aligned with Iran, fighting as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, fired rockets and drones at US bases and at Israel, including the January 2024 attack on Tower 22. During the war between the United States, Israel and Iran from 28 February to 7 April 2026 they launched hundreds of attacks on US sites. The PMF Commission counted 145 strikes on its own forces in that period, with about 80 killed and 270 wounded, several commanders among them. The PMF claims it shot down a US MQ-9 drone over Basra on 9 March.
The ceasefire did not end the pressure. In July Iraq's judiciary banned unauthorised combat drones and raids seized 25 drone frames from workshops linked to the PMF. On 29 July joint US and Saudi strikes hit PMF sites in seven provinces, killing at least 20 by early counts. Saudi Arabia blames factions based in Iraq for drone attacks on its oil infrastructure in July and September. The factions deny it.
Will the PMF be disarmed?
Partly, and slowly. After the coalition led by the United States left Iraq on 30 September, five factions, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada among them, reportedly agreed to put their weapons under state control. Muqtada al-Sadr had already dissolved Saraya al-Salam in May. Kataib Hezbollah, which runs most of the drone fleet, refuses, along with Nujaba and two smaller groups.
The ruling Coordination Framework has set 30 June 2027 as the deadline for all weapons to come under state control, and the government threatens to prosecute anyone who obstructs it. By late October no handover had been publicly counted.
Key figures
| Fighters | 200k–238k | B |
| Full-time trained core | 21k–30k | C |
| Reservists and irregulars | 40k–50k | C |
| Ballistic missiles | ~24 | C |
| Longest strike range (km) | 700–1,000 | C |
| Tanks | ~6 | C |
| Armoured vehicles | ~14 | C |
| Aircraft | 0 | B |
A confirmed B strong estimate C estimated range
Main weapons
| T-72 with Iranian ERA upgrade | 6–12 | C |
| M1 Abrams (diverted from Iraqi Army) | ~9 | C |
| Toofan MRAP | ~14 | C |
| Raad-24 / Raad-36 122mm MRL | — | C |
| HM-20 122mm MRL | — | C |
| Zelzal / Fateh-110 / Zolfaghar-class SRBM | ~24 | C |
| One-way attack and ISR drones (Iranian-designed types) | — | C |
| Seraj datalink stations, Sadad-103/202 EO sensors | ~10 | C |
Assessment
| Firepower | 3/5 | |
| Cohesion and command | 2/5 | |
| Outside support | 4/5 | |
| Combat experience | 4/5 | |
| Professionalism | 2/5 |
Backers. Iraq, Iran
Ground. It is deployed across Iraq, mainly in Anbar, Nineveh including Sinjar, Salahaddin, Kirkuk, Diyala, the belts around Baghdad and the Syrian border strip. It holds no territory separately from the Iraqi state.
Professional or irregular. A state commission with 67 to 70 numbered brigades and 200,000 to 238,000 on the payroll, but in practice a coalition. Factions loyal to Iran, such as Badr, Kataib Hezbollah and Nujaba, keep their own command chains and drone and missile units. Sunni tribal and minority units are lightly armed local forces.
What changed in 2026
Questions readers ask
How many fighters does the Popular Mobilization Forces have?
Iraqi budget laws pay between 200,000 and 238,000 members, and its chairman claims 204,000. How many of them are effective fighters is unknown, because no independent count exists.
Is the PMF part of the Iraqi army?
No. It is a separate state commission set up by law in 2016 and paid from the federal budget. Several of its factions aligned with Iran keep their own chains of command.
Does Iran control the Popular Mobilization Forces?
Only part of it. Iran's Quds Force backs factions such as Kataib Hezbollah and Nujaba, which run their own drone and missile units. The tribal units and those loyal to Sistani have no such tie, and the Iraqi state pays the salaries.
Does the PMF have ballistic missiles?
A few dozen Iranian short range ballistic missiles were reported transferred by 2018, and there is no reliable current count. Its main long range weapon is the one way attack drone, which has reached Israel.
Is the PMF stronger than Hezbollah?
No. Silent Dossier ranks Hezbollah ahead. The PMF has far more men on its books, but Hezbollah is more cohesive and better trained.