Alaa al-Moussawi said the volunteers answered a call reference and went to the offices of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq in all governorates across the country.
Moussawi added that the Supreme Council, headed by Ammar al-Hakim, decided to form the brigades after the senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa, calling on Iraqis to take up arms against the Takfiri militants advancing towards Baghdad.
"The volunteers will be trained and armed in coordination with the armed forces to join them in fighting the evil of ISIL terrorists in all areas that require the defense of the homeland and the citizens,” added Moussawi.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier announced that the country’s armed forces were advancing to defeat the ISIL. The premier added that there would be no place for the terrorists to hide.
In early June, following its large-scale offensives in Iraq, ISIL seized control of most parts of Mosul, the second most populous city in Iraq, its surrounding Nineveh province. ISIL militants have been in control of Fallujah city since December.
The terrorists’ attacks have reportedly forced more than half a million people in and around Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, to flee their homes.
The Takfiri (extremist) militants have vowed to march toward the capital, Baghdad.
They are said to have entered Iraq from neighboring Syria and Saudi Arabia to destabilize the Arab country.