Babil security forces found the body of Aysar al-Khafaji dumped on the highway Jableh area, north of Babil, according to a statement from the Iraqi interior ministry.
“At a time when the security services in the Ministry of Interior are seeking to establish security and stability in different regions of the country, criminal elements are trying from time to time to disturb this stability, something that the Ministry of Interior will not allow,” read the statement.
The Khafaji tribe released a strongly-worded statement later in the day, holding the Iraqi government responsible for Aysar’s death and calling on relevant authorities to uncover the perpetrators as soon as possible and hold them accountable.
“Condemnations and denunciations have become useless… Enough silence. Enough bloodshed,” said the tribe.
Videos published on social media of the funeral processions depicted a member of the Khafaji family saying that they will grant Babil governor Adnan Faihan 24 hours to uncover the killers “otherwise all offices shall become our target.”
Faihan is a senior member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), a pro-Iran armed group and rival of Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam militia.
The interior ministry noted that security forces have found “important leads” regarding the suspects, stressing that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Clashes between Saraya al-Salam and Asaib Ahl al-Haq are a common occurrence in southern Iraqi provinces.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group of Shiite paramilitary forces that was formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) under a fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. A number of forces within the umbrella group are backed by Iran.
Saraya al-Salam was founded by Sadr himself in 2014 and considered as a revived version of Sadr’s Mahdi army, militants who fought the Americans following their invasion in 2003.
