Free Republic

Iraq’s parliament on Saturday voted to accord full legal status to government-sanctioned Shiite militias as a “backup and reserve” force for the military and police and empower them to “deter” security and terror threats facing the country, like the Islamic State group. […] The Shiite militias, most of which are backed by neighboring Shiite Iran, have been bankrolled and equipped by the government since shortly after IS swept across much of northern and western Iraq in 2014. Many of these groups existed long before IS emerged, fighting American troops in major street battles during the U.S. military presence in Iraq...

Obama's decision to commence the attack on Mosul appears to have been made without any real thought to the possible involvement of the PMU and Turkey President Obama’s decision 14 days ago to approve Iraqi and Peshmerga forces undertaking the liberation of Mosul has well and truly blown up in his face with the news that the Iran funded Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have now joined in the attack.

The U.S. has failed to live up to its promises to help Iraq fight Islamic State extremists, unlike the “unconditional” assistance being given by Iran, the commander of Iraq’s powerful Shiite militias alleged Friday. In a battlefield interview near Tikrit, where Iraqi forces are fighting to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown from the militants of the so-called Islamic State, commander Hadi al-Amiri criticized those who “kiss the hands of the Americans and get nothing in return.” […] An Iraqi government official told The Associated Press that Iran has sold Baghdad nearly $10 billion in arms and hardware, mostly weapons for urban...

Sanaa - A Shiite militia on Sunday set a three-day deadline for political parties to resolve the power vacuum in Yemen since the president and prime minister offered to resign last month. The Huthis and their allies urged parties "to reach a solution and fill the vacuum" within three days or "the revolutionary leadership" would "take care of the situation of the state". ... The militia, which overran Sanaa in September, seized the presidential palace and key government buildings on January 20, plunging the country deeper into crisis and prompting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his premier to tender their...

TIKRIT, Iraq, Nov. 18, 2005 – More than 150 Iraqi civilians were reported killed or wounded in terrorist attacks that destroyed two Shiite mosques in Khanaqin during prayer services today, military officials here said. Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division, were assisting Iraqi security forces in response to the twin bombings. Iraqi authorities conducted medical evacuation of bombing victims. U.S. forces sent medical specialists and supplies to assist the Iraqis. Media reports said terrorists entered the mosque and detonated explosive belts. Khanaqin is near the Iran border in Diyala province. Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal teams searched the...

Suicide bombers killed 52 worshippers at a mosque in western Iraq on Friday, while in Baghdad two car bombs killed eight Iraqis and destroyed the blast wall protecting a hotel housing foreign journalists. The suicide attackers targeted the Sheik Murad Shi'ite mosque in Khanaqin, 140 kilometers (87 miles) northeast of Baghdad, as dozens of people were attending Friday prayers, police said. Iraqi army Col. Hazim al-Sudani said 52 people were killed and 65 injured in the largely Kurdish town. The blast near the Hamra hotel in Baghdad knocked down the blast walls protecting the hotel and blew out windows, but...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's Kurdish president backed his Shiite allies Wednesday by openly supporting a militia that Sunni Arab leaders have accused of killing members of their minority. Clashes in Baghdad and other attacks around Iraq killed at least eight people as the Sunni-dominated insurgency pressed on with its campaign against the Shiite-led government. The bloody wave of violence that broke out after the April 28 announcement of Iraq's new Shiite and Kurdish dominated government has killed more than 874 people. During the spree, more than 10 Sunni and Shiite clerics have been killed in apparent tit-for-tat slayings that raised...