Shia militancy in Iraq II

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/procedural-dispute-pits-security-troops-mosul-officer-killed/

6 Feb 2017: dead officer belonged to the NSS team. It added that the clashes erupted after the counter-terrorism force refused to let the team to carry out searches of civilian houses in the area, voicing fears of “sectarian abuses”.

https://twitter.com/RashaAlAqeedi/status/828651086500159488
7 Feb 2017: Christian MP Joseph Slewa on Al Mada TV:" Political and military Shi'a groups confiscating Christian homes in Baghdad". #Iraq

https://twitter.com/Thawra_city/status/851580725895643137
10 April 2017:  Iraqi Communist Party's Qadisiyah office was attacked by grenades.

https://twitter.com/Thawra_city/status/851581559912013824
10 April 2017:  Left leaning students in Qadisiyah University had protested Qais al-Khaza'ali's visit today. It doesn't take a genius to guess who did this.


https://twitter.com/Mogared___Mosul/status/862757878314217473
http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/349845
http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/350827
14 May 2017:

On Sunday some 180 Christian families filed a lawsuit against Mousawi who said in a televised interview that the Christians in Iraq which is a Muslim country should be treated as dhimmis. He added if they refuse to observe the instruction, they should be killed.

https://twitter.com/Observer46664/status/865628917868003328 
19 May 2017: Ministry of interior issues arrest warrants for Shi'a militiamen who clashed with Federal Policemen in Palestine St. in Baghdad last night.


https://twitter.com/ahmusawi/status/866573783108395008 
https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/867977312414781440 
20 May 2017:  Iraqi PM Haider Al-Abadi Compares Shiite Militias to ISIS: We Did Not Fight the Baath Regime Only to Be Ruled by Gangs

https://twitter.com/UticaRisk/status/870252493695053824
http://www.nrttv.com/EN/birura-details.aspx?Jimare=6196
https://twitter.com/Matthew__Barber/status/869245027591102464
29 May 2017: The YBŞ supported the Hashd forces in the Siba Sheikh Khider area, but the Hashd (main Hashd al-Sha'bi commanders—not Yazidi Hashd)
< did not allow the YBŞ into the town of Siba. First, the Hashd commanders had a problem with the YBŞ's female units (YJŞ).
5) In a meeting attended by YBŞ fighters, Hashd commanders said "It is forbidden by the shari'a for women to fight in the ranks of military"
6) Later, after noticing some PKK guerillas among the YBŞ forces, the Hashd chose not to allow the YBŞ fighters to enter Siba, at all.


http://www.niqash.org/en/articles/politics/5630\
July 2017: Shia militias in Tikrit ban weddings in Muharram

washin.st/2wv7hAB
https://twitter.com/Mikeknightsiraq/status/900029624926777344
Aug 2017: Muhandis & friends try to undercut Sistani's shrine volunteers wherever they can: by de-funding/disarming them, by criticizing their leaders

http://almon.co/2x8p
Aug 2017:
armed men took over the provincial headquarters on Aug. 27 to prevent the firing of Gov. Muthanna al-Tamimi, of the Shiite Badr Organization
...
That corresponds with reports on Aug. 12 that PMU units had caused massive destruction in Al-Muqdadiyah, including setting fire to orchards, as part of a plan to engineer demographic change in the area in favor of the Shiites.



http://ara.tv/g88ug
https://twitter.com/ShiaPulse/status/905810494350655488
4 Sep 2017: Najaf-based Shiite cleric Fadel al-Bedeiri: The Lebanese Hezbollah tried to kill me following my criticism of its recent agreement with ISIS

https://apimagesblog.com/blog/2017/9/11/shattered-by-war-sunni-arabs-despair-over-future-in-iraq
Sep 2017: Shia and Kurd militias bar Sunni Arabs from returning to homes in strategic areas


http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/kurdistan/377917
https://twitter.com/Ykaliany/status/908408638062186496
https://www.facebook.com/Nineveh.Iraq/posts/1453157931388527
https://twitter.com/DeadmanMax/status/908312172920557569
https://twitter.com/BaxtiyarGoran/status/908233953143902208
14 Sep 2017: Islamic Republic of #Iran renovates a school & changes its name to "Imam Khomeini" in the Assyrian [Christian] town of Bartella near #Mosul.

https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/12/21/irans-inroads-christian-iraq/
https://twitter.com/Ykaliany/status/943910914729828353
Dec 2017: Iranian proxies in the #NinevehPlains. "Iran is using its proven strategy of co-opting local militias to encroach on Iraq’s Christian heartland.
....

The Babylon Brigade

The 1,000-strong Babylon Brigade is operationally part of the PMU umbrella, the volunteer forces formed by fatwa when ISIS neared Baghdad. Although it is currently led by Christian quasi-celebrity and former Mahdi Army affiliate Rayan al-Kildani, the Babylon Brigade is composed mostly of Shi‘a Arabs and Shabak not native to the area, and is supported by the Iran-backed Badr Organization. The Brigade did not participate in the battle for the Nineveh Plains, and it was only during the battle for Mosul that they positioned themselves in the town of Tel Kayf, right outside of the city.

Very little is known about the origins or inner workings of the Brigade. The PMU touts Al-Kildani as an example of its diversity and of the willingness among Shi‘a to include Christians in the country’s post-ISIS makeup. However, for many Christians, the pictures of al-Kildani on social media receiving the Eucharist or praying in a church are disingenuous attempts to highlight his Christian heritage and therefore his legitimacy as a Christian leader.

Their distrust of him is reasonable. At the beginning of the battle for Mosul, the Brigade became embroiled in controversy when a video of al-Kildani was released in which he tells Brigade members that the battle will be revenge against “the descendants of Yezid [a historical figure reviled by Shi‘a],” exacted upon the citizens of Mosul. This led the Chaldean Patriarch, head of the largest Christian church in Iraq, to assert that al-Kildani “does not represent Christians in any way. His deplorable statements are aimed at creating abhorrent sectarian strife.” Al-Kildani’s reference to Yezid and other statements have fueled rumors that he is a crypto-Muslim or the son of a convert.

The Babylon Brigade’s actions on the Nineveh Plains are of serious concern as well. In July 2017, member of the Babylon Brigade were caught stealing ancient artifacts from the Mar Behnam Monastery and nearby homes. The Nineveh Plains Units (NPU), a 500-strong militia aligned with a pro-Baghdad Christian political party that runs security in the Al-Hamdaniya District of the Plains, arrested six members of the Brigade in response. The Brigade responded by teaming up with another local PMU force to attack the place where the prisoners were being held captive, stealing several of the NPU’s weapons and vehicles in the process. In response to the incident, the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office and the PMU High Command expelled the Babylon Brigade from the entire district.

In addition, al-Kildani has reportedly hosted leading Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in the Nineveh Plains. Al-Kildani has also photographed himself with the pro-Iranian politician Hadi al-Ameri of the Badr Brigade and U.S.-designated terrorists Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis of Kataeb Hezbollah and Qais Khazali of the League of the Righteous. In April of 2017, al-Kildani was hosted in Tehran by Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq and Qods Force commander, Iraj Masjedi. Using its “Christian” identity as a pretext, Iranian leaders have been able to use the Babylon Brigade to guarantee that they will have a say in Northern Iraq.

The Shi‘a Shabak

The Iranian regime has also been working to empower Shabak PMU forces and populations. Traditionally concentrated in the district of Hamdaniya and Mosul city, the Shabak have been historically treated as a separate ethno-religious group with a unique language. However, the community has faced severe pressure to submit to either an Arab or Kurdish ethnic identity.

The Shabak leadership is divided into pro-KRG and pro-Baghdad parties, each with their own militias affiliated with the two major powers. Sunni Shabaks (around 30 percent) generally support the KRG, while Shi‘a Shabak (around 70 percent) remain aligned with the central government and PMU leadership, including the powerful Iran-backed Badr Organization. The Shabak Democratic Gathering party, which advocates the formation of a separate Nineveh Plains province, is led by Dr. Hunain al-Qaddo, a member of Iraq’s Council of Representatives and an ally of Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law block as well as the pro-Iranian Badr Organization.

Since the liberation of the Nineveh Plains from ISIS, Shabak have been buying homes and other properties with offers many desperately impoverished Christian refugees cannot refuse. The building of an Iranian-funded school in Bartella named after the Iranian Imam Khomeini further intensifies Christian fears of encroachment. Many Christians believe that the Shabak are being funded by an outside source, namely the Badr Organization, in a deliberate attempt to drive them out of their towns and change the ethnic makeup of the Nineveh Plains.

Lately, the Shabak PMU has been encroaching on Christian towns, with the encouragement of its Iranian backers. The operations of these fighters are not yet well understood, but Shabak militias based out of smaller Shabak towns and Bartella are viewed negatively by Christian forces. Their growing financial and military presence in traditionally Christian areas of the Nineveh Plains has complicated efforts to stabilize liberated communities. In much the same way as they made inroads into the Turkmen community, capitalizing on that relationship during recent events in Kirkuk and other disputed territories, Iran’s leaders are attempting to use the Shabak as their proxies in Northern Iraq.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12/24/under-threat-irans-quiet-infiltration-over-iraqi-christian-communities.html
Dec 2017:
At a checkpoint near the entrance of Syriac Christian town of Bartella – a poster of the Virgin Mary last month was ripped down and replaced with a side-by-side image of Khomeini and his successor, Ayatollah Khamenei.
....
In Iraq’s largest Christian town of Qaraqosh in the Al-Hamdania district of the Nineveh Governorate, Christian activists bemoaned that their small university – Al-Hamdania University – was recently directed, as per the federal government education ministry, to accept upwards of 180 mostly Shia students from central and southern Iraq, prompting protest from locals who feared having to give over their properties to the new influx.
  

https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/five-christians-wounded-shia-led-troops-open-fire-protesters-nineveh/
16 Dec 2017:  Five Christians wounded as Shia-led troops open fire against protesters in Nineveh


http://almon.co/2z1j
24 Dec 2017:

Of the families who fled Bartella in August 2014, only 700 or so have returned. Over 1,000 have remained in the Kurdistan region, where they found refuge. The rest have managed to emigrate and leave Iraq.

The situation in Bartella is bad, Yacoub said, as there is hardly any electricity, no health care, a barely recovering education system and most importantly, no security. The problem is with the Shiite Shabak, a religious and ethnic group that has returned in larger numbers than the Christians. They have their own militia, part of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units, whose Shiite volunteers are feared due to the violent, vengeful behavior they displayed in the battle against IS.

Already problems have arisen, Yacoub said, with militiamen following Christian women in the streets, driving around playing their religious music at top volume and marching through the town beating their chests during the religious procession of Arbaeen, the yearly remembrance of the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. “It is disrespectful of the Christian people!”

There have also been problems between the militia and Christian young people trying to collect data on who has returned for the church for aid purposes. “The militia detained one of [the youths], saying he had no permission. Who are they to demand we get permission?”

The priest also complained about houses looted after the liberation and Christian agricultural land that was taken by Shabak families. “These are all indirect messages to the Christians not to return.”

He agreed with Kriaqosh. Given that the local Iraqi police have no power over the Hashd militia, people would feel safer if the Christian community undertook their own policing. But the local Christian force that was trained for that duty by the Kurdish peshmerga forces has been banned from entering Bartella due to that affiliation.

Many of Bartella’s Christians supported the Kurds in their recent referendum on independence, opting even to become part of a Kurdish state. But Baghdad’s harsh reaction to the referendum, taking back land from the Kurds and imposing sanctions, has also had a negative impact on Christians.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/iraq-najaf-shiite-sistani-election.html#ixzz57eK7MAye
28 Jan 2018:
Jan. 28 attack on Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai, a representative of top Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani, was no surprise. Those familiar with attacks on religious authorities in Iraq believe the incident, which took place while Karbalai delivered a Friday sermon, was orchestrated by Shiite groups that defected from the Najaf authority. Karbala Gov. Aqeel al-Turaihi stated Jan. 27, “Deviant groups were behind the attack."


https://twitter.com/cybertosser/status/971003868963332096
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/a34yvp/this-is-the-lost-generation-of-iraqi-youth
https://youtu.be/GIyWRDohW4Y?t=12m50s 
March 2018: [The Lost Generation of Iraqi Youth, VICE on HBO, Full Episode]
Sheikh Qasim al-Tae (Shia cleric): "Killing for us is a habit and our wish to God is martyrdom...Let however gets killed be killed. I already said, killing for us is a habit. We are not affected by killings. The life is a passage for us"

https://twitter.com/iraqschristians/status/1017423690173120512
12 Jul 2018:
Iraq Army plus PMU Shia militia raid a Christian church & cultural center in Syriac Christian town of Bartella, Iraq. They shutdown the internet in the town & damage the whole network. They also assaulted Iraqi Christians. Iraq is out of control. @HaiderAlAbadi @POTUS @VP
...Iraqi Christians have asked @HaiderAlAbadi for 1 year to remove PMU Shia militias from Bartella, a majority Christian town. Your refusal to do this @HaiderAlAbadi causes more harassment &violence towards Christians which @IraqiGovt is required to protect under Genocide convention
...This has become an emergency situation as Christian residents of Bartella are under constant attacks & harassment by Iranian-backed PMU Shia militias. They should be designated as int’l terrorist org & protection given to local residents. @HaiderAlAbadi @SecPompeo @brett_mcgurk



https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-iraqs-shiite-militias-expand-their-reach-concerns-about-an-isis-revival-grow/2019/01/09/52da575e-eda9-11e8-8b47-bd0975fd6199_story.html?utm_term=.7abe80a1699e

10 Jan 2019: 

Some militiamen have engaged in “mafia-like practices,” several Iraqi and U.S. officials said, demanding protection money from both large and small businesses, while shaking down motorists at checkpoints to permit them to pass.

The militias are also deciding which Sunni families are allowed to return to their homes following battles against the Islamic State, say analysts who study the groups. In several towns, militia leaders have compelled local councils to invalidate the property rights of Sunnis on the grounds that they supported the Islamic State. The practice has led to major demographic changes in traditionally mixed Sunni-Shiite areas such as Hilla and Diyala.

With 1.8 million displaced Sunnis still living in camps and in overcrowded shelters, militia efforts to prevent them from returning home contribute to possible radicalization, said Hisham al-Hashimi, a security analyst who advises Iraq’s government and foreign aid agencies. The militias “are an obstacle to the stability of these areas because they are banning the return of internally displaced people,” he said.

Iraqi politicians have proposed significantly reducing the ranks of the militias and either absorbing them into the regular police and army units or designating the PMF as an auxiliary force to be called on during national emergencies.

Powerful militia leaders have resisted such suggestions, arguing that the success of these forces in evicting the Islamic State shows they are essential to Iraq’s national security. They also provide jobs for thousands of Shiites who would otherwise struggle in Iraq’s stagnant economy, their leaders say.

....

Shiite militiamen declared the approximately 1,500 farms in Qaim to be a security zone, preventing the farmers from coming back.

Today, 1,000 acres of farmland remain barren. The terrain is dotted by ruined farming equipment and armed men. Banks that lent the farmers money before the Islamic State occupation — and suspended repayments during that period — have come calling.

“Their existence has disabled the economy in Qaim,” said Rabah Assi, a farmer who has had to rely on the far less lucrative practice of sheep herding to survive.

The militias, in particular the Kitaeb Hezbollah group that dominates Qaim, also control the roads in and out of the strategic town and a border crossing with Syria just south of Qaim.

https://twitter.com/SAMRIReports/status/1151081838615629829 
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/07/iraq-art-culture-extremism.html#ixzz5tqP6Asa6
Jun 2019:

A recent open-air fashion show in Basra raised the ire of some clerics and Islamist groups. Afterward, residents felt the wrath of one cleric in particular who blamed them for not stopping the show and called their lack of action shameful. He also criticized the state for protecting “this debauchery.”

The administrative committee of the Artists’ Union in Basra had already called June 10 for a halt to all singing and musical activities in the entire province, due to death threats by extremist groups.

...
Singer and composer Faress Hassan was killed in May in #Najaf province, possibly because of the Najaf Sanctity Law, which prohibits music, singing and makeup. A similar sanctity law in #Karbala went into effect in December.



Visuals


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/19/violent-videos-threaten-iraqi-campaign-mosul?CMP=share_btn_tw
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170208-iraq-army-shia-militias-execute-sunnis-in-east-mosul/
8 Feb 2017:  Iraq army, Shia militias execute Sunnis in east Mosul


https://twitter.com/ABC/status/867898847116140544
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/deepdive/brian-ross-investigates-the-torture-tapes-47429895
May 2017: EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi photojournalist risks his life to expose torture used by some elite Iraqi soldiers fighting ISIS. http://abcn.ws/2rUko8Z 

http://f24.my/1N2e.t
June 2017: Abu Azrael's videos of torturing corpses

https://twitter.com/warreports/status/878556711803551745
June 2017: Iranian fighter chopping off the head of a dead ISIS fighter,with an axe;Iraq,near Mosul(English sub,blurred)org vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xugmChJjzyE