Iraqi Sunni scholars: Iraqi rebels, not ISIS, who face the Iraqi army

The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI) said on Friday that describing the rebels who drove the Iraqi army from several cities as operatives of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) is incorrect. They decried the designations as an attempt to abort the uprising in the country.

In the statement reported by the Jordanian Assabeel newspaper, AMSI said that the ISIS label is a clear distortion which does not change the reality that Iraqi rebels are the main component of this uprising.

Meanwhile, the AMSI also denounced the call by an ISIS spokesman for fighters to head towards Karbala and Al-Najaf. They described they call as “irresponsible and objectionable.”

About the routing of the Iraqi army, the statement said: “This is an achievement that will infuriate many parties inside and outside Iraq, including those with external agendas that harmed the country for years.”

Despite claims that it was the ISIS which took over the cities and towns, several Iraqi sources have pointed out that tribal rebels as well as other Iraqi fighters constitute the main force currently fighting the Iraqi army, in addition to some affiliated to ISIS.