Kurdish official: Shia militias more dangerous than ISIS

The head of the Intelligence Service in Iraqi Kurdistan, Masrour Barzani, has expressed concerns about the role that Iranian-backed Shia militias are playing in the fight alongside the Iraqi army to regain control of the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State (ISIS) .

In an interview with the BBC, Barzani said that the Iraqi government’s use of these militias leads to larger and more dangerous problems than ISIS by increasing tensions between the Sunni and Shia communities in the country.

Barzani strongly criticised the Baghdad government for using the Shia militias (Popular Mobilisation) to take back control of Salahuddin. “This will generate a greater problem than ISIS, we must all look at the matter as a war against the organisation, we have to fight ISIS together, but if retaliation or revenge happens between sects or religions or ethnic groups, this problem will certainly become more difficult,” Barzani said.

The Kurdish official added: “Islamic State is a result of political faults in this country and in the region; there was Al-Qaeda, ISIS is today, tomorrow there may be something else.”