Attempts to identify the vast number of Shiite and Sunni PMU forces in terms of brigade numbers designated by the PMU Commission have thus far resulted in more confusion than clarity.
Karbouly said IS lost Karableh and Saada to the primarily southern, Shiite PMU forces: Kataib Hezbollah, the Imam Ali Brigade, the Abbas Division, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Ali Akhbar Brigade. While these southern PMU factions took control of the two areas near a damaged but accessible bridge over the Euphrates River that would later be used for the subsequent Rawa operation, Aaly al-Furat fought alongside the army to retake the T1 area, some 25 miles southeast of Qaim, phosphates facilities and then the border area of Husaybah.
Karbouly fought alongside Col. Ali Fendi, an Iraqi army commander of the 28th Brigade's 1st Regiment and with whom he had worked for many months on previous operations in the Anbar cities of Sagra and Anah.
On Nov. 6, three days after Qaim was declared retaken, Karbouly said he was disappointed that his group had not been designated to be the first to enter his native Karableh, because, he believes, it would have fostered greater trust among the civilians, most of whom had left for internally displaced persons camps or to elsewhere, where they would be screened prior to being allowed back into the city.
Aaly al-Furat entered Karableh only after it was taken. Karbouly said his main priority was to check homes for possible improvised explosive devices and booby-traps, a major danger in IS areas that in some places has led to more deaths than the fighting itself. Asaib Ahl al-Haq had retaken the area and set up checkpoints, but had not bothered to clear the homes of explosives, Karbouly said. Asked whether problems had arisen with Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Karbouly told Al-Monitor, “We haven’t had any problems with them, yet. So long as they leave.”
Comments are closed.