The Shiite Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi) has launched a military training course for students and teachers at the Iraqi University in Baghdad. According to a large poster placed at the university, the course is conducted in compliance with the recommendation of the Aytollah's Sistani and the instructions of the minister.
The following are excerpts:
Footage of men doing military-style training
Speaker one: "The military training department of the Popular Mobilization Units decided to cooperate with all ministries, in order to train their cadres who do not know how to use a weapon."
Speaker two: "This training will be held between August 1 and August 19, when the cadets from all the participating universities will demonstrate (their skills)."
Speaker three: "Today we stand together and support the heroes fighting on the front lines."
Speaker four: "Training sessions are every day for four hours. The first hour is physical fitness, the second hour is weapons training, and the third hour is an overview of shooting with AK-47s."
Caption: "You are our hope."