By Hiwa Hussamaddin KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region—Security and military officials in Kirkuk say Shiite militias are acting with impunity as they fight the Islamic State (IS), carrying out brutal campaigns against Sunni Arabs who are asking for protection from Kurdish forces. Following the fall of Mosul to IS and as the extremist group inches toward Baghdad, thousands of Shiite militiamen have heeded Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s call to fight IS and mobilized to battlefields in Kirkuk, Mosul, Diyala and Tikrit. In Iraq there are at least two dozen known Shiite militia groups, including the Badr Brigades, Mehdi Army, Hezbollah, Ali ibn Abutalib and Asaib Ahl al-Haq. The militias are heavily armed and are believed to receive support from the Iraqi army. A new stronghold for the Shiite militias is the town of Amerli, Salahaddin province, which was under IS siege until a rare joint operation between Peshmerga forces, the Shiite militias, the Iraqi Army and US airstrikes ousted IS in late August. Shiite militias took over the town after IS was pushed back. Sherwan Hamid, a Kurdish Peshmerga officer near Kirkuk, told Rudaw, “The policy and behavior of Shiite militants have changed completely. In the beginning their only goal was to retake Shiite areas, but now they have started seeking revenge.” Hamid added, “Following the liberation of Amerli, Suleiman Beg and some other villages, the Shiite militants entered the village of Yenginje and destroyed all the houses, stores and shops that belonged to Sunni Arabs.” “When they find an IS militant corpse, they behead it and drag the body from the car in the streets,” he maintained. For years during Iraq’s brutal sectarian conflict, Shiite militias were accused of setting up checkpoints, abusing power, running secret prisons and operating as unofficial, and unchecked, security forces. The power of Shiite militias is a major point of contention for Sunni Arabs who have been persecuted by Shiite forces. Pola Ahmed, director of Daquq security station south of Kirkuk, said, “IS still controls several areas within Kirkuk’s borders. The security authorities, with the help of the Iraqi army, have a plan to retake those areas and the Shiite militants are expected to participate in the operation. This has raised grave concerns among the Sunnis. Ahmed added, “We have been approached by Sunni Arabs in those areas via tribal leaders. They have informed us that they would like to have the Peshmerga forces attack their areas and that they are ready to surrender themselves and their arms to Peshmerga forces on the condition that Shiite militants can’t attack their areas,” Ahmed added. Abbas Abdulhussein, commander of Suleiman Beg front south of Kirkuk, told Rudaw, “All of the volunteers have come for jihad against IS. Every battalion has a commander and all of the commanders are under the command of (Badr leader) Hadi al-Ameri who carries out the orders of the highest Shiite clerics.” “The Shiite jihadists have the right to take the lives and properties of those Sunni Arabs who have fought along with IS, because they had taken the lives and properties of Shiites. They have killed dozens of Shiite police, soldiers and citizens and they continue to do so,” Abdulhussein added. Abdulhussein said, “We believe that those who lived under the IS command are considered IS members. There are no impartial people under the authority of IS.” A security source who spoke on condition of anonymity said Iranian militants are being trained near the town of Taza in Kirkuk province. “All of the members of that military unit are Iranians affiliated with (Iran’s) Quds army. Their first mission is to retake the Bashir village, which is under IS control,” he said. The Shiites militias have established several checkpoints on the Kirkuk-Baghdad road. The director of security in the town of Tuz Khurmatu in Salahaddin province south of Kirkuk, said the Peshmerga worked well with the Shiite militias on anti-IS missions but their relationship has deteriorated over the past few weeks. They “attacked our checkpoint at Khurmatu gate, but we repelled the attack,” he said. “The Shiite militants, on a daily basis, make problems for Kurds inside the town of Khurmatu.”
