Iraqi city chief resigns in protest at Shia looting

The leader of a city in the Iraqi governorate of Tikrit has resigned in protest at looting by Shia militias, Anadolu reported on Friday. Ahmed Abdul-Jabbar Al-Karim was the head of Saladdin City Council; he left the city with Governor Raed Al-Jabbouri due to the looting and theft by the militias after they drove ISIS forces out.

Al-Karim told Anadolu that he left after the violations carried out by a Shia militia called Al-Hashid Al-Shaabi (“Popular Crowds”). “Governor Al-Jabbouri told the prime minister about the violations and then he left the city in the absence of a clear vision from the central government in Baghdad on this issue.” Both men faced sectarian insults by the pro-government militia, he added.

A parliamentary deputy claimed that the prime minister had sent government forces to Tikrit to stop the looting. The group accused of the looting was described earlier by the prime minister’s office as “heroic”.

A joint force of the Iraqi Army and federal police, along with Al-Hashid Al-Shaabi, expelled ISIS from Tikrit on Tuesday after fierce fighting which lasted a month.