Nearly 8,000 weapons registered in Salah Al-Din under arms control campaign

SALAH AL-DIN — Salah Al-Din’s provincial council held a session Monday to review security conditions with senior security leaders, where Police Commander Mustafa Ahmed Habib announced that the Ministry of Interior has authorized local police to oversee the state’s arms registration campaign.

Habib said special offices have been opened for weapons registration and emergency patrol units activated to enforce implementation under the directives of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

He reported that 7,811 weapons have been officially registered so far. “Citizens who register their weapons will be granted an official possession ID that guarantees legal protection for keeping arms at home,” Habib said, warning that legal measures will be taken against those who refuse to comply.

Years of conflict in Iraq have left firearms widely available, with many owned without licenses. Authorities have faced repeated calls for tighter gun control and launched a nationwide buyback program last year.

On Sept. 15, a joint security force conducted a large-scale search operation Monday in the Husseiniya area of northern Baghdad to confiscate unlicensed weapons.

It followed an earlier operation where the Interior Ministry announced the arrest of 166 people and the seizure of 126 weapons in a security operation in Baghdad’s Al-Saada and Al-Rashad areas.

In May, Ministry of Interior launched a national initiative to register and track stolen and lost weapons as part of its broader plan to limit arms possession to state institutions. The effort aligns with Iraq’s obligations under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

The database will involve not only the Ministry of Interior but also other security bodies, including the Ministry of Defense, the National Security Service, and the Criminal Labs Directorate. It will also cover civilian-owned weapons reported missing or stolen.