REPORT: Residents alarmed as Iraqi soldiers spray Shi'ite graffiti in Mosul

Rita Khoury Author: Rita Khoury
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2016-12-03 | 11:04
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REPORT: Residents alarmed as Iraqi soldiers spray Shi'ite graffiti in Mosul
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2min
REPORT: Residents alarmed as Iraqi soldiers spray Shi'ite graffiti in Mosul

"We answer your call, O Hussein!"

 

The traditional battle cry of Shi'ite Muslims, expressing loyalty to the 7th century martyred hero of their sect, has been spray-painted across buildings in Mosul by soldiers as they push out the hardline Sunni fighters of Islamic State.

 

Troops and commanders say the slogan, sometimes sprayed over Islamic State's own graffiti, is meant to be an expression of victory for all Iraqis. But for many residents of the multi-ethnic but predominantly Sunni Muslim city, it is an explicitly sectarian taunt from the country's Shi'ite majority, signaling more violence to come.

 

"Look at this. The army should be neutral and not painting such things on walls," said Abdullah Shuwaib, a Sunni blacksmith who fled the fighting, pointing to a Shi'ite slogan painted next to a nearby grocery shop. "I'm not optimistic. Iraq won't improve after Daesh is gone."

 

Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, considers all Shi'ite Muslims heretics who must repent or die. It declared a Sunni caliphate in 2014 after sweeping through the third of Iraq's territory where Arab Sunnis predominate, executing Shi'ite soldiers who failed to flee in time.

 

The militants were initially welcomed by some Sunnis who saw them as protectors from a Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

 

Today, most residents have nothing good to say about the fighters or their brutal rule, which included flogging people for smoking, enslaving non-Muslim women and executing dissidents. The soldiers driving them out have frequently been warmly welcomed.

 

 

For more details, watch the full report in the video above

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