Persecution of Shias by the Islamic State

Last updated
Persecution of Shias by the Islamic State
LocationFlag of the Taliban.svg  Afghanistan
Flag of Iraq.svg Iraq
Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon
Flag of Oman.svg  Oman [1]
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia
Flag of Syria.svg  Syria [2]
Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen
DateJune 2014 – present
Target Shia Muslims
Attack type
Religious persecution, mass murder, prison shootings, mass rape, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, genocidal massacre
PerpetratorsIslamic State flag.svg  Islamic State
DefendersFlag of Iraq.svg  Iraq
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
Flag of Syria.svg  Syria
InfoboxHez.PNG  Hezbollah
Motive Anti-Shia sentiment
Salafi jihadist extremism

Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State (IS), an Islamist terrorist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.

Contents

Despite being the religious majority in Iraq, Shia Muslims have been killed and otherwise persecuted by IS, which is Sunni. On 12 June 2014, the Islamic State killed 1,700 unarmed Shia Iraqi Army cadet recruits in the Camp Speicher massacre. [3] [4] [5] IS has also targeted Shia prisoners. [6] According to witnesses, after the militant group took the city of Mosul, they divided the Sunni prisoners from the Shia prisoners. [6] Up to 670 [7] Shia prisoners were then taken to another location and executed. [6] Kurdish officials in Erbil reported on the incident of Sunni and Shia prisoners being separated and Shia prisoners being killed after the Mosul prison fell to IS. [6]

IS also targeted Christians and Yazidis in northern Iraq on a "historic scale", putting entire communities "at risk of being wiped off the map of Iraq". In a special report released on 2 September 2014, Amnesty International described how IS had "systematically targeted non-Sunni Muslim communities, killing or abducting hundreds, possibly thousands, of individuals and forcing more than tens of thousands of Shias, Sunnis, along with other minorities to flee the areas it has captured since 10 June 2014". The most targeted Shia groups in Nineveh Governorate were Shia Turkmens and Shabaks. [8]

The fall of Mosul

In summer 2014, Shia properties in Mosul and other IS-held areas were painted with the letter ر () for Rafidah , a derogatory term for Shias used by Sunni Muslims. Houses and shops owned by Shias were confiscated by IS and given to local IS supporters or IS foreign fighters. [9] Thousands of Shia Shabaks and Turkmen fled the cities of Mosul, Tal Afar, and the rest of Nineveh Governorate to safer Shia-majority areas further south. [8]

Attacks against Shias in Iraq

Thousands of Shias from villages in Salahudin and Kirkuk governorates fled to neighbouring villages in Kirkuk after three Shia villages were attacked by ISIL and at least 40 civilians including children were killed near the town of Bashir. [9] [10]

Destruction of Shia shrines and places of worship

The Islamic State views Shia Muslims as polytheists and heretics. Therefore, it started a campaign to destroy all Shia shrines, mosques and places of worship in Nineveh and all IS-held areas. Reports stated that at least 10 Shia shrines and hussiniyas including historical ones in Mosul and Tal Afar were demolished or blown up by IS during this campaign.[ citation needed ] On March 26, 2014, IS blew up the Shia shrine of the companion of Muhammad, Uwais al-Qarni. [11] In July 2016, IS attacked a Shia shrine during the Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi Mausoleum attack, killing anywhere from 56 to at least 100 people.

Genocide claims

On 17 March 2016, United States Secretary of State John Kerry declared that the violence initiated by IS against Shia Muslims and others in Iraq and Syria amounted to genocide. [12] [13] He said:

"In my judgment, Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims" – John Kerry

Kerry's statement came the same week the US House voted 383–0 in favor of classifying the atrocities committed by the Islamic State as a genocide against certain ethnic and religious minorities in its territories. [12] [13] [14]

List of Islamic State attacks on Shias

Afghanistan

The Islamic State – Khorasan Province has committed bombing attacks against Hazara Shia civilians in Afghanistan. [15] [16]

Iran

Iraq

Kuwait

Lebanon

Oman

Pakistan

Islamic State has started to conduct operations in Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia

Syria

Yemen

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dashte Barchi</span> Neighborhood of Kabul in Afghanistan

Dashte Barchi also known as Barchi (برچی) is a settlement located in western Kabul, Afghanistan. Previously barren and agricultural, Dashte Barchi became populated in the early 2000s by newcomers from the provinces, mostly ethnic Hazaras from Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, and Parwan, also some Kochi Pashtuns. It is mostly informally-developed. Over 95% of population of Dashte Barchi are Hazara people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Hazaras</span> Persecution of the Hazaras ethnic group

The Hazaras have long been the subjects of persecution in Afghanistan. The Hazaras are mostly from Afghanistan, primarily from the central regions of Afghanistan, known as Hazarajat. Significant communities of Hazara people also live in Quetta, Pakistan and in Mashad, Iran, as part of the Hazara and Afghan diasporas.

On 4 July 2016, four suicide bombs exploded in three locations in Saudi Arabia. One of these exploded in the parking lots of the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, killing at least four people. The second and third suicide bombers targeted a Shia mosque in Qatif, but they failed to harm anyone but themselves. A fourth militant blew himself up after police tried to arrest him near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. Two Saudi Arabian police officers were injured.

On 7 July 2016, at least 56 people were killed and 75 injured after a group of attackers stormed the Mausoleum of Sayid Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi, a Shia holy site in Balad, Iraq. The attackers included suicide car bombers, suicide bombers on foot, and several gunmen. They attacked Shia pilgrims celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. There were three suicide bombers, and one of them was killed by security personnel. There were other attackers too. ISIL also launched several mortars into the area.

On 15 October 2016, four attacks in and around Baghdad, Iraq, resulted in the deaths of at least 60 victims and at least seven attackers, while injuring at least 80 more people. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are believed to be behind the suicide bombing and two mass shootings.

The December 2017 Kabul suicide bombing occurred on 28 December 2017, when militants attacked a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attack killed 50 people and injured over 80.

A suicide bombing occurred on 21 March 2018 around 12:00 PM in Kabul near Kart-e Sakhi, a Shia shrine. At least 33 people were killed with more than 65 wounded in the bombing. The militant group ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.

On 22 April 2018, a suicide bombing killed 70 people and wounded dozens more Sunday at a voter registration center in Koche Mahtab Qala, in the Hazara-majority Dashte Barchi area of western Kabul, Afghanistan. In addition to the fatalities, at least 120 others were injured in the attack.

Two bombings on 5 September 2018 at the Maiwand Wrestling Club in Qala-e-Nazer in Dasht-e-Barchi, a predominantly Hazara neighborhood of western Kabul, left at least 20 people dead and 70 others wounded, the deadliest attack on Kabul's Shia since the 15 August suicide bombing. The responsibility for the attacks was claimed by ISIL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State–Taliban conflict</span> 2015–present armed conflict in Afghanistan

The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing insurgency by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as rival insurgent groups in Nangarhar; since the formation of the Taliban's state in 2021, IS-KP members have enacted a campaign of terrorism targeting both civilians and assassinating Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.

On 17 August 2019, a suicide bombing took place during a wedding in a wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 92 people were killed in the attack and over 140 injured. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating that the attack targeted the Shi'ites. More than 1,000 people were gathered for the wedding when the attack took place. The attack occurred a day before the 100th Afghan Independence Day, causing the government to postpone the planned celebrations taking place at the Darul Aman Palace. It was the deadliest attack in Kabul since January 2018.

On 8 October 2021, an ISIS-K suicide bombing occurred at the Shia Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz. Over 50 people were killed, and another 100 injured, but according to an estimate by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, more than 100 people were killed and wounded.

On 21 April 2022, a powerful bomb rocked the Shia Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan, killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 87 others. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility via Telegram.

On April 21, 2022, several separate explosions rocked different parts of Afghanistan. The first explosion occurred at the biggest Shia Muslim Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Over 31 people were killed and another 87 injured in the mosque explosion. Another explosion targeted a vehicle near a police station Kunduz city, leaving 4 dead and 18 injured. A mine planted explosion hit a van of the military in Khogiani killing four Taliban members and wounding a fifth. The roadside bomb wounded two children in the Niaz Beyk area of Kabul. Islamic State (ISIL) has claimed several attacks including the bombing of the Seh Dokan mosque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop Hazara Genocide</span> Social Movement

#StopHazaraGenocide is a social media campaign that aims to raise awareness and demand action against the persecution and violence faced by the Hazara ethnic group. The campaign was initiated by Hazaras in response to a series of deadly attacks on the Hazara community, especially students and women, by the Taliban and other extremist groups.

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