Sheikh Diaa Mohamed al-Kalabi told Al-Monitor, “This week witnessed the displacement of the Bouchari clan from their areas to the Babil province [100 km, or 62 miles, south of Baghdad], after its members were threatened that they would be killed and after a number of sheep and cattle fell victim to improvised explosive devices planted in farms.”
This geographical belt surrounding Baghdad primarily comprises rural areas, and most of its residents come from tribes of various sects. It extends from the south of Baghdad — i.e., the Mahmudiyah and Yusifiyah areas and Arab Jibor — through the western areas — i.e., the Abu Ghraib boundaries — up to northeastern Baghdad, known as the rural area of al-Mada’en.
In the north, the outskirts of Diyala, located 57 km [35 miles] north of Baghdad, including Wajihiya and Rashidiya, fall within this “belt.” In the southern part of the Baghdad belt, adjacent to the areas of Arab Jibor, people of different sects have been peacefully living together for decades, including the Sunni al-Amer tribe and the Shiite al-Jaari tribe, as well as another mixture of al-Shibli, al-Chalabiyeen and other less populous tribes.
The sectarian incidents, however, have led to a sharp divide among different groups of the region. Some tribes and clans have been accused of including terrorist members, such as the Sunni Arab Jibor, al-Abid, al-Gharir and al-Janabiyeen tribes. For their part, al-Chalabiyeen are on the other side, having organized themselves in support councils that collaborate with the army and the security forces.
Saadoun al-Mohsen, chairman of Mahmudiyah’s support council, told Al-Monitor, “We are not arming ourselves against our Sunni brothers, but rather against armed takfiri groups that force Sunnis to cooperate with them.”
He continued, “At this particular time, Shiite families are forced to migrate from the villages of al-Ashra, Khodayr and al-Jalaa, which forced us to respond and call the security forces of the second regiment of the 25th Brigade.”
Sheikh Mohammed Diaa al-Alwan told Al-Monitor that the al-Chalabiyeen clan withstood an assault that was carried out at 10 p.m. on Aug. 14 following a violent clash and exchange of fire.
Comments are closed.