Al-Naaman announces militias' weapons will be under state control before June 30, 2027

The spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Major General Sabah al-Naaman, announced that Iraq will place the weapons of armed factions under state control and prevent any activity outside its authority by no later than June 30, 2027.

He said this during a panel held in Erbil as part of the Middle East Research Institute forum titled "After the International Coalition: Iraq, the Kurdistan Region and the New Regional Balance," where al-Naaman said the withdrawal of the international coalition removed the excuses for refusing to concentrate weapons in the hands of the state and to unify security decision-making.

Al-Naaman said the factions have pledged to adhere to the "goodwill" initiative and to the government's 90-day deadline to cease any activities targeting neighboring countries, stressing that "all of Iraq's borders are now fully secured, and no unlawful group can threaten a neighboring state."

He added that the decision to end the coalition's mission was based on professional assessments free from political interference, noting that reconnaissance operations to identify hostile targets had previously been carried out by the coalition, but that all airstrikes conducted by F-16 aircraft since the middle of this year were carried out solely by decision of the Iraqi military leadership.

In the same session, National Security Adviser Qasim al-Aboudi acknowledged that Iraqi forces still lack the advanced surveillance technologies the coalition used to track militants' movements, saying a plan to re-equip branches of the security forces is under study to address this shortfall.

For his part, Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Reber Ahmad warned that ISIS still retains its ideological base.