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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A mother, father, and child were burned inside their home when a tribal conflict broke out in Nasiriyah overnight, an official told Rudaw English. The three are now in hospital.
The conflict broke out late Thursday night in the al-Shuyoukh market area of southern Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qar province. Light and medium weapons were used in a fire fight between the opposing sides and several houses were set on fire, including the home where the three family members were injured, Brigadier General Fuad Karim, media officer for Dhi Qar Police, told Rudaw English
A mortar shell fell on the house of a member of the Iraqi parliament, Ola al-Nashi, and shops and homes near the area were also damaged.
"Most of the people involved in these conflicts belong to Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces or PMF], so they obtained these weapons with legal cover through their participation in the battles against ISIS," said Karim.
The PMF is an umbrella network of mostly Shiite paramilitary groups established in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) following a fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. Some Iran-backed PMF factions have been accused of human rights abuses and attacks on foreign military and diplomatic sites.
Clan structures remain influential in many areas of Iraq and tribal law can often take precedence over state law. There are traditions to resolve clan disputes through meetings in the presence of the chiefs of the tribes, but disputes can escalate and parties can resort to violence.
The Iraqi government is trying to stamp out tribal violence.
"There is no return to the tribal degga [justice]," Tahsin al-Khafaji, a spokesman for Iraq’s joint operation command, told state media on Saturday. "The Joint Operations Command and the various security forces have daily follow-up and prosecution operations for anyone who carries out what is known as the tribal degga or uses weapons illegally."
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has vowed to pursue persons acting outside of the law and restrict control of weapons to the hands of the state.
Tribal warnings and justice are classified as terrorist acts in Iraq, punishable by death, but there has been an increase of their use in central and southern Iraq.
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