ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Local Sunni tribes in Anbar remain unarmed and unable to effectively fight the Islamic State (ISIS), a tribal official said, adding that the situation in Iraq’s largest province is going from bad to worse.
Sheikh Raad Sulaiman of the Dulaim tribe told Rudaw the government in Baghdad is not cooperating with the Sunni tribes, who he claimed were better able to take on the militants who control large swaths of Anbar.
“We have asked the government time and again to arm the tribes in order to rid the region of ISIS, but I don’t know what is the secret: why doesn’t the government take us seriously?”
Sulaiman said that the government expects the Sunni tribes to fight ISIS alongside its own Shiite militia.
“The government sends the Shiite militia to our area without our knowledge and says ‘come fight with us,’ but how can we fight without any arms?” he complained.
Sulaiman contended that the local Sunnis would be more effective in fighting ISIS than the Shiite militia.
“We are the people of the area and know things better,” he continued. “Better than Iranian Qasem Soleimani and the savagery of the militia who displace people in the name of fighting ISIS.”
Soleimani is the head of the Iranian Qods Force who has been assisting and leading the Shiite militia in Iraq since last August.
The Sunni Sheikh claimed that the Shiite militia has not made any progress in the war against ISIS.
“ISIS has been in control of Anbar for a year and the Shiite militia has not advanced even one kilometer,” he said. “It is all about wasting money.”
“The government knows very well that if they arm the Sunni tribes ISIS will not last a month,” he claimed.
Sulaiman stressed that all parties – be it Baghdad or the Kurds -- should assist and stand by the Sunni tribes in the fight against terrorism.
He added that the Sunni tribes have turned down government calls for national reconciliation because Baghdad has cut off Anbar’s financial lifeline.
“Forget about reconciliation for now,” he said. “Give me guns to get rid of ISIS first, then we will talk.”
Sheikh Sulaiman said that the people and Sunni tribes of Mosul prefer to liberate the city from ISIS in cooperation with the Kurdish Peshmerga than with the Shiite militia.
The Anbar Sheikh claimed that the Shiite militia have destroyed and burned the homes of many Sunnis in areas they have attacked, warning this will backfire against the Iraqi government.
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