When the battle to re-claim Mosul and surrounds from the IS group began, there were strong reservations about how the Shiite Muslim militias could participate. Generally, it was thought they shouldn’t be involved inside the city, which is populated mostly by Sunni Muslims. Instead the Shiite Muslim militias headed towards the nearby town of Tal Afar, which sits just east of the Syrian border.
In November 2016, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said during a press conference that the Iraqi-Syrian border needed special security in order to prevent extremist fighters from returning to Iraq. A delegation was sent to Syria to discuss this with the government there.
Several Shiite Muslim militias said they were ready to do the job of guarding the borders. The Badr organization, which is known for its close ties to Iran, was particularly keen.
“Guarding the borders here is important to stop the IS group’s supply route,” Razzaq al-Hayderi, an MP from the Badr organization, told NIQASH. “The militias can help the Iraqi military and security forces achieve this goal because they are trained in fighting the extremists.”
During his visit to the Iranian capital, Tehran, last week, Iraq’s former prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who is known to have close ties both with the militias and with Iran, suggested that the Shiite Muslim militias cross the Syrian border and help eliminate the IS group there too.
As yet, the current Prime Minister al-Abadi, has not given the Shite Muslim militias either of these responsibilities.
Additionally, there is a lot of border to defend – around 600 kilometres’ worth - and much of it goes through rugged desert. There are only three proper crossings. One at Al Qaem, which is held by the IS group, one at Rabia, which is controlled by the Iraqi Kurdish military and one at Waleed, controlled by the Iraqi army.
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