(Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim militias fighting in Syria have started returning home to combat a lightning advance by Sunni insurgents in their own country, an exodus that could affect the balance of power in Syria.
The movement demonstrates how intertwined the conflicts in the two neighbouring countries have become, as Sunni and Shi'ite fighters move between them and shifts in battlefield momentum on one side of the border influence the other.
President Bashar al-Assad has relied heavily on Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from Iraq and Lebanon to help turn the tide against overwhelmingly Sunni rebels.
One of those militias, Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-backed group which fought U.S. troops during the 2003-2011 occupation, confirmed on Wednesday that it was pulling some of its fighters out of Syria.
Spokesman Ahmed al-Kinani said the group was responding to a call from Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric to protect Iraq from Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who seized Iraq's biggest northern city last week.
"Asaib Ahl al-Haq has withdrawn from Syria and returned to Iraq as both are religious duties to defend our sacred sites. Now they are fighting ISIL together with our security forces."
Estimates of the number of Shi'ite fighters in Syria have run in the thousands. Residents in Jaramana, a Damascus suburb with a heavy presence of government troops backed by foreign militias fighting rebels in the nearby district of eastern Ghouta, say fewer Iraqi fighters have been visible lately.
"We easily differentiate them right away from their accents. You can also hear them down the street when they drive their cars blaring Iraqi Shi'ite music,” said one Jaramana resident.
Read more:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/18/uk-iraq-security-syria-fighters-idUKKBN0ET1VB20140618
The movement demonstrates how intertwined the conflicts in the two neighbouring countries have become, as Sunni and Shi'ite fighters move between them and shifts in battlefield momentum on one side of the border influence the other.
President Bashar al-Assad has relied heavily on Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from Iraq and Lebanon to help turn the tide against overwhelmingly Sunni rebels.
One of those militias, Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-backed group which fought U.S. troops during the 2003-2011 occupation, confirmed on Wednesday that it was pulling some of its fighters out of Syria.
Spokesman Ahmed al-Kinani said the group was responding to a call from Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric to protect Iraq from Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who seized Iraq's biggest northern city last week.
"Asaib Ahl al-Haq has withdrawn from Syria and returned to Iraq as both are religious duties to defend our sacred sites. Now they are fighting ISIL together with our security forces."
Estimates of the number of Shi'ite fighters in Syria have run in the thousands. Residents in Jaramana, a Damascus suburb with a heavy presence of government troops backed by foreign militias fighting rebels in the nearby district of eastern Ghouta, say fewer Iraqi fighters have been visible lately.
"We easily differentiate them right away from their accents. You can also hear them down the street when they drive their cars blaring Iraqi Shi'ite music,” said one Jaramana resident.
Read more:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/18/uk-iraq-security-syria-fighters-idUKKBN0ET1VB20140618
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