Former Iraq PM urges action to stop ‘massacres’ against Syrian Shias under HTS rule
Iraq’s former prime minister has called for action to terminate crimes and atrocities against Muslim minorities in Syria , including the Shia population, in the aftermath of foreign-backed militants’ takeover of the Arab country.
Speaking at an official conference in the Iraqi city of Karbala, Nouri al-Maliki called for an “intervention” after the emergence of “videos of massacres” against Shia Muslims who are under attack and suffering oppression following the overthrow of former president Bashar al-Assad by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group.
“In Syria, followers of Ahl al-Bayt [Shias] have been targeted, and every day we see videos of massacres against them," he said. "Our brothers in Syria are sending videos pleading, asking: Where are Iraq’s Shias, the Popular Mobilization Forces, Iran, and the tribes?"
Maliki pointed to the fall of Assad and his government in December last year as a “great sedition” by HTS militants and warned that instability in Syria could spill over into Iraq.
"They have not only shed blood but also violated people's honor," he stated. "If we do not stand against it, this sedition will spread even to Iraq."
Earlier in the month, militants shot and killed nearly a dozen civilians at a Shia-populated village in Syria’s central province of Hama, amid ongoing raids and summary executions by HTS-affiliated gunmen.
Local sources in the Hama governorate said masked assailants stormed the village of Arza, abducting several residents before executing 15 of them near the Orontes River.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 105 such armed raids have taken place across Syria since the beginning of the current year, claiming the lives of 228 people, including five women and one child.
The HTS used to occupy some areas in northern Syria after being pushed back by Damascus and its allies following the outbreak of foreign-backed militancy in the country in 2011.
On December 8, however, it seized huge swathes of the rest of the country during lightning advances amid heavy Israeli airstrikes against the nation, which the regime had begun carrying out under the pretext of preventing outbreak of the violence into the occupied Palestinian territories.
The HTS has repeatedly claimed it would respect the rights of all sects and religions in Syria.
The situation, however, remains very fragile, with a potential risk of further clashes as sectarian sentiments continue to boil over, amid the ongoing political instability and pressure on minority groups.
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