During the 2006-2009 period significant sections of Iraq experienced waves of sectarian and ethnic cleansing. In different areas; Sunnis, Shia, Turkomans, Kurds, Christians and numerous minority groups all fell victim to sectarian strife that particularly affected mixed areas of central Iraq.
In Baghdad, significant mixed areas were almost entirely depopulated of their Sunni population, as Shia militias carried out bloody reprisal attacks following the destruction of the Samarra Mosque by extremists in 2006. Thousands died in sectarian massacres and experts warned that following these purges Baghdad went from being 65% Sunni to 75% Shia.
Once again in 2014 and 2015, Sunnis are being systematically targeted in revenge killings and sectarian purges. Sunni villages that suffered greatly under the so-called Islamic State have been the target of reprisal attacks by Iran-backed Shia militias which have been involved in “liberating” these areas.
Militias like the Badr Brigades and Asaib Ahlulhaq, which are working alongside the Iraqi army with US support to combat ISIS, are exactly the same groups that led the purges against Sunnis just a few years ago.
The fight against ISIS has primarily been waged in these mixed-population central areas of Iraq where ISIS could expect to be at its weakest. However, in some of the early successes against ISIS in a town like Jurf al-Sakhar; 70,000 Sunnis were forced to flee and many who didn’t were summarily shot by militias trained and funded by Iran.
In Sunni villages north of Baghdad, entire civilian populations have fled and Shia commanders are open about refusing to let Sunnis return, so they don’t “do it to us again” – demonstrating the tendency to blame all Sunnis for the sins of ISIS. In many areas the Sunnis originally fled when ISIS overran the locality. However, since the expulsion of ISIS Shia militias have refused to let tens of thousands of Sunnis return to their home and it is unclear if they will ever be allowed back.
Sunni politician Hamed Al-Mutlaq told AP: “What we are dealing with here is a real attempt at demographic change… It is now extremely difficult for the Sunnis to return to their homes… it is genuine fear that is stopping them.”
This refusal to allow Sunnis to return to their homes is particularly visible in the province of Diyala which was recently declared to be cleared of ISIS. The province is an important crossing point for many Shia pilgrimage routes and in consequence pro-Iran militias have occupied key routes and have said that they will only allow “loyal citizens” to their homes – an expression that is understood mean non-Sunnis.
During the fighting in Diyala in mid-January, in just the single village of Barwanah, the mass graves of around 70 Sunnis are being uncovered; after Shia militias entered the village and killed all the civilians they found there.
Amnesty International has extensively documented the rounding-up and killing of groups of Sunni males in many parts of Iraq by these militias. These purges have often been conducted in a manner similar to that seen during the 2006-2009 period. In several cases these militias demanded ransoms for those they had kidnapped, and then killed them anyway after the ransoms had been paid. Amnesty states that one aim of these killings is to terrorize the general population and force entire Sunni communities to flee.
Senior figures from the US Administration are warning that American weapons donated to the Iraqi army to fight ISIS are ending up in the hands of these sectarian militias and are being used to perpetrate massacres against Sunni civilians.
ISIS has been responsible for the mass killings of Shia and non-Muslim sects across Iraq. However, reprisals by Iran-sponsored militias share ISIS’s objective of banishing everyone from different sects and ethnicities.
The Iraqi Government has condemned sectarian killings, but has shown little political will to tackle militias supposedly working under its command. The US and other Western nations also seem reluctant to take any action that may divert attention from the fight against ISIS.
Meanwhile, Iran has been visible in micromanaging the militias which it funds, arms and trains and visits from senior Iranian figures to encourage these fighters to continue their task.
The 2006-2009 period saw waves of sectarian cleansing across Baghdad and other parts of Iraq which permanently erased any presence of Sunni populations.
Today, we are witnessing the next chapter of this crime against humanity as Iran-backed militias seek to permanently remove Sunni populations from the provinces of central Iraq while the world sits idly by.