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Iraq’s Shia Militias Accused of Atrocities
The stalled battle to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah from ISIS has given way to another grim development: accusations of human rights abuses against fleeing refugees by pro-Iraqi government forces.The largely Shia militia group officially known as Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), headed by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a U.S.-designated terrorist has, according to the United Nations, committed atrocities against Sunnis in two newly liberated areas of Saqlawiyah and Al-Karmah, are just kilometers from Fallujah city. Two sources in Saqlawiyah, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of their lives, have told The Daily Beast that hundreds of civilian residents of Saqlawiyah and Karma have been heavily tortured by the PMF. Five dead bodies have been uncovered, but there are an additional 200 to 300 civilians that have been taken by the PMF; their fates are unknown. Sheikh Raad Salman, of the Anbar-based Sunni Dulaim tribe, one of Iraq’s largest, told The Daily Beast that the “300 civilians have been buried alive” by the PMF and “700 more people have been severely tortured.” Some say number of the victims is much higher. Hamid Mutlag, a Sunni MP and deputy head of defense committee in the parliament, told The Daily Beast “more than 800 residents of a village in Saqlawiyah have been taken by the Hashd al-Shaabi and there are others that have been killed and tortured.” Atrocities in Fallujah have been expected as PMF leaders have been threatening to “cut the head of the snake” and accusing residents of having been cooperative with the Islamic State. Saadoon al-Shalan, the mayor of Fallujah, said that Shia militias have sustained “huge losses” in the battle against ISIS and have lashed out at fleeing civilians. But the PMF leadership has nevertheless given “reassurances that they will not enter Fallujah and remain in the periphery.” Reassurances are not enough in Iraq. Sectarian hatred is now so entrenched in light of the fact that the militias leading the operations in Saqlawiyah and Karma are the Badr Organization, Kata'ib Hezbollah (or the Brigades of the Party of God) and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq the (League of the Righteous). All are directly backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and are notorious among the Sunni minority population for carrying out extrajudicial killings, torture and ethnic cleansing. One source, who also asked to remain anonymous, has told The Daily Beast that the PMF are, in fact, planning to infiltrate into Fallujah city in the uniforms belonging to Iraqi Federal Police, a state security arm under the purview of the Interior Ministry, which is controlled by the Badr Organization. Posted by: Pappy 2016-06-09 |
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