Badr Brigade Leader: Shi’ite Militias Not Involved in Massacre of Sunnis

Claims Militias Weren't Even at Site of Major Diyala Killing

Badr Brigade leader and Iraqi MP Hadi Amiri has given a new interview to Reuters in which he denies any Shi’ite militia involvement in recent massacres of Sunni civilians in retaken towns.

Amiri, who is effectively ordering the militias around for anti-ISIS fighters, says he didn’t send a single militia member to the town of Barwanah, the site of one of the recent massacres, insisting that means the allegation couldn’t be true.

Amiri went on to claim Sunni MPs were sympathizing with ISIS and trying to slander the various Shi’ite militias with claims of massacres. Several top officials, including Diyala Province’s governor, put Shi’ite militias at the site of the massacre.

Most Sunni towns retaken have seen Shi’ite retribution killings, with military forces standing by while the militias crack down on those they believe were helping ISIS. Given the sectarian nature of the war, that means almost anyone.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.