Q & A: Shia militia commander Ali Jamal Hussein
A senior commander of Saraya al-Khorasani, a powerful militia in northern Iraq, denies accusations of sectarian cleansing against Sunnis and discusses training and support from Iran.
Ali Jamal Hussein (center), deputy commander of the 3rd Battalion of Saraya al-Khorasani, a Shia militia that has fought alongside Iraqi, Peshmerga and Iranian troops. At a Jalula command post on Dec. 6, 2014. (STRINGER/Iraq Oil Report)
JALULA - Shia militias have served as shock troops in Iraq's battle against the insurgency led by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, yet they have also prompted controversy that could make it more difficult for the government to reconcile with disaffected Sunnis.
Bolstered by U.S.-led airstrikes against IS militants and a close if dysfunctional alliance with Kurdish forces to the northeast, Shia militias have in recent weeks won victories around the Baghdad belts and in Diyala and Salahaddin provinces. Not long after these victories, however, eyewitness accounts began to emerge of reprisals against Sunnis, including murder, destruction of homes, intimidation, and other violent atrocities.
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