Shite militias fight ISIS. Yahoo/Reuters
Shite militias are giving no quarter to ISIS fighters in the battle for Iraq. Yahoo/Reuters. The militias took back the Iraqi city of Jurf Al-Sakhar from ISIS and immediately took revenge on the fighters unlucky enough to be captured. Reuters reporters witnessed three "Chechens" being executed after they confessed to being members of ISIS. 15 more militants were found dead with their hands tied behind their backs. The bodies had not been buried because the Iraqi forces said the militants deserved to be left out for the dogs. The civilians of the city had fled and the town was mostly abandoned. The Shite militias retreated after coming under mortar fire.
My Comment:
I'm not going to shed any tears for these executed ISIS fighters but at the same time I have to admit that this is clearly a war crime. I am not at all surprised that ISIS fighters would be executed though. After all the atrocities they have committed in the past year it would be more surprising if they were not executed. Being absolutely brutal in warfare has consequences and these ISIS fighters found out what those consequences are. If you offer no quarter, even for civilians, then you can't expect it in return. Still it is important to note that even the "good guys" in this war are not all that good. Instead of a black and white conflict it is black vs a very dark shade of grey.
As for the larger strategic impact of the recent battles near Baghdad it is slightly encouraging that the Iraqis have had some limited success there. For awhile it looked like Baghdad could actually fall. I guess that is still a very real possibility but at least the Iraqi security forces and Shite militias are having some success. If they aren't reversing the tide at least they are buying time for the Iraqi government to get it together. Perhaps they will be able to stem the tide.
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