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The Gangs of Iraq

Marauding pro-government militias areusing the fght against the Islamic State as

a pretext to destroy Sunni Arab

communities across the country.

• BY TIA!A "ASSA!-!#$%MB% &' ()*+

%BI,' Ira Behind the relative sa/ety o/ the large

concrete blast 0alls' a 1urdish 2eshmerga commander sat behind a dar3

0ooden des3 and described the situation in the battle-scarred to0ns in

Ira4s northern province o/ Salahaddin.

5There is no one le/t in any o/ these villages' they are all empty'5 he told

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me.

 This 0as not entirely true. As my colleague and I drove into the village o/

 Yengi6a' some 7) miles south o/ 2eshmerga-controlled 1ir3u3' in an areacontrolled by the Islamic State until late August' the streets 0ere pac3ed --

but not 0ith residents.

Men 0ho loo3ed li3e soldiers lined the main street' scores o/ them' standing

at attention 0ith A1-+8 assault ri9es slung over their shoulders. :ith ;.S.-

provided "umvees par3ed along the side o/ the street' it loo3ed li3e a

military parade 0as about to start. But there 0as nothing o<cial about this

army. The men bore no insignia o/ Ira4s armed /orces= Most had on

mismatched military /atigues' 0hile some 0ore blac3 balaclavas printed

0ith a menacing s3eleton /ace. >rom their slender /rames' it loo3ed li3e

some 0ere no more than *? or *8.

It 0as only 0hen 0e sa0 the bright yello0 9ags 9ying /rom a chec3point

and burned-out buildings that 0e reali@ed 0ho these armed men 0ere.

 They 0ere part o/ the Saraya al-1horasani Brigade' one o/ the many Shiite

militias that have assumed a national military role since the Irai

government4s security /orces crumbled this summer' 9eeing their positions

as the Islamic State fghters s0ept through Mosul' Ira4s second-largest city.

 The 1horasani Brigade is a relatively recent addition to the net0or3 o/ Shiite

militias in Ira -- and despite a similar sounding name' has no connection to

the 1horasan roup' the alleged al aeda-a<liated organi@ation that 0as

the target o/ ;.S. airstri3es in Syria in September. The 1horasani Brigade is

 6ust one o/ do@ens o/ similar militias that are essentially running their o0n

sho0 in parts o/ the country. These Shiite militias are supplied 0ith 0eapons

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and euipment /rom the central government in Baghdad' 0hich is no0

being assisted by a ;.S.-led military alliance in its fght against the Islamic

State.

 These militias4 actions 0ill only exacerbate Ira4s existing sectarian

tensions. The country is no stranger to sectarian violence= Its Shiite

population suCered /or decades under the oppressive rule o/ Saddam

"ussein' and a/ter the ;.S.-led invasion in ())& the country spiraled into a

cycle o/ revenge violence' culminating in a bloody civil 0ar in ())? and

())8. Many accused the largely autocratic rule o/ /ormer 2rime Minister

!ouri al-Mali3i o/ /ueling sectarian 9ames.

:hile the Irai central government has virtually no /ormal authority over

the militias' 0ho act as a la0 unto themselves' some 3ey politicians in

Baghdad have strong alliances to individual militias. In #ctober' 2rime

Minister "aider al-Abadi appointed Mohammed Salem al-habban -- a

prominent member o/ the Badr #rgani@ation' a Shiite political group that

controls one o/ the largest and most in/amous militias -- as interior minister. 

Despite being almost completely unaccountable to any o<cial ministry' the

Shiite militias have been tas3ed by the government 0ith a 3ey role in the

0ar against the Islamic State. Yet 0hat 0e sa0 in Yengi6a laid bare the costs

o/ relying on these groups. Beyond the main road' an entire neighborhood

o/ t0o-story homes 0as ra@ed and 9attened' 0ith concrete slab roo/s

heaped atop piles o/ rubble. 2ersonal belongings' children4s toys' and

/urniture pee3ed out /rom under the debris' a poignant reminder o/ the

Sunni Arab /amilies 0ho' until recently' had lived there. All these /amilies

had 9ed in August 0hen the militia started battling the Islamic State

fghters in the surrounding area.

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 The destruction 0as over0helming. The only houses that remained

standing shared one common /eature -- blac3ened exterior 0indo0s

sho0ing 0here the militia had set fre to them in their eCorts to destroy

0hatever they could not loot.

>amilies that had been driven /rom their homes told us that 0hen the militia

arrived' they destroyed the /amilies4 homes. >ormer residents told us that

those 0ho have tried to return are accused o/ being Islamic State members

or sympathi@ersE some 0ere held by the militia /or days' blind/olded'

uestioned' and beaten -- or simply disappeared. In the 2eshmerga-

controlled city o/ 1ir3u3' 0e met "amad' a government 0or3er /rom Yengi6a.

"e told us that he had snuc3 bac3 into the village undetected t0o 0ee3s

earlier to try to collect some o/ his /amily4s belongings a/ter being told by

neighbors that his home 0as undamaged. But 0hen he arrived' he /ound

his house emptied o/ its valuables and his neighborhood torched.

 The militia had made no eCort to conceal its crimes' but instead advertised

their destruction by spray-painting 51horasani5 and Shiite slogans on the

0alls that 0ere still standing.

In a bac3 corner o/ the village' 1urdish 2eshmerga /orces have established a

small base /rom 0hich they control a small residential uarter. It seemed

their only common goal 0ith the Shiite militia 0as repelling the Islamic

State. As the 1horasani Brigade turned their eCorts to0ard driving out the

Sunni Arab population that lived in the to0n' the 1urdish /orces /ound

themselves outnumbered and po0erless to intervene. The 2eshmerga

commander told us that the Shiite militia 0ill not allo0 his /orces to enter

areas 0here they exercise control.

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As 0e 0al3ed around the hand/ul o/ streets under 2eshmerga control' the

air became flled 0ith smo3e as the 1horasani Brigade set more houses on

fre.Approaching one' 0e could still see the stain 0here the militia had

poured the 3erosene they used to start the fre. It 0as deliberate and

precise. As 0e 0atched the smo3e billo0 /rom one house' its mud bric3

0alls collapsed in /ront o/ us. There is little chance that Yengi6a4s residents

0ill ever return here. I/ any do' they 0ill fnd that 0here they /ormerly lived

and 0or3ed is no0 a scene o/ utter destruction.

:hat 0e sa0 at Yengi6a 0as not at all uniue. During our visit to a

ma3eshi/t camp at the /oot o/ nearby hills' 0e met do@ens o/ displaced

/amilies /rom more than () predominantly Sunni villages 0ithin a *)-mile

radius o/ Yengi6a. They all provided similar' chilling accounts o/ the

systematic destruction o/ their villages by government-bac3ed militias

determined to prevent Sunni Arabs /rom returning. "undreds o/ /amilies

have been le/t homeless' and are no0 ta3ing shelter in abandoned

/actories' in graveyards' and under cars and truc3s. They 0ere pushed /romtheir homes by the Islamic State' but are prevented /rom returning by these

militia groups.

5I too3 my /amily out to protect them /rom ISIS'5 Ahmed' a young business

o0ner /rom the nearby village o/ "u/riyah' told me. 5I didn4t reali@e that the

people 0ho came to fght ISIS 0ere going to be the ones 0e 0ould need

protection /rom.5

 There is mounting evidence that Ira4s Shiite militias are using the fght

against the Islamic State as cover /or a campaign o/ sectarian violence

targeting Sunni Arab communities. The Baghdad authorities have turned a

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blind eye to these militias4 crimes' 0hile /oreign governments have ignored

the militias4 use o/ their military aid to pursue their campaign against Sunni

Arabs. I/ the central Irai government doesn4t rein in Shiite militias and hold

them and their commanders to account /or their crimes -- including 0ar

crimes -- Ira may enter even more terrible times.

As Shiite militias reportedly prepare to launch an oCensive south o/ the

predominantly Sunni city o/ Ti3rit' 0hich 0as captured by the Islamic State

in Fune' it seems li3ely that they 0ill leave similar patterns o/ destruction

and displacement in their 0a3e. A small 0indo0 o/ opportunity still remains

to halt the militias4 rampage o/ retribution. But unless the government and

its /oreign allies sei@e their chance to put a halt to this destruction' Ira

may yet slide into a ne0 abyss o/ sectarian violence and revenge 3illings.

Posted by Thavam