Iran-backed Iraq militia closes its offices after Basra violence

Security forces intervene in supporters of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr after they stormed the Presidential Palace at Green Zone in Baqhdad, Iraq on August 29, 2022. [Murtadha Al-Sudani – Anadolu Agency]

The leader of Iraq’s Iran-backed Asaib Ahl Al-Haq militia, Qais Al-Khazali, yesterday ordered the closure of the militia’s offices across the country following violent clashes that erupted in the southern city of Basra during which four people were killed.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Al-Khazali ordered the closure of the militia’s offices until further notice and called on his followers not to respond to any provocations.

Earlier yesterday, Reuters reported that four men, including two members of Saraya Al-Salam, an armed faction linked to Shia cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, were killed in clashes among rival Shia Muslim militants in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

Following the deaths, prominent Sadrist Movement leader, Saleh Muhammad Al-Iraqi, issued a public warning in which he called on Al-Khazali to rein his “impudent militia”.

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