Diyala’s Sunnis: ‘We Need Peshmarga Protection’

[Pak-Americanos]

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Amid a rampage of bloodshed that has ripped through Iraq and killed at least 200 people since the start of Ramadan, Sunnis in the religiously mixed and volatile Diyala province are asking the autonomous Kurds to send in their Peshmarga forces for protection.

A mosque attack during Friday prayers in the town of Wajihiya in Diyala, which killed 20 people and revived fears of a return to the fierce Shiite-Sunni violence that followed the 2003 US-led invasion, has Sunni leaders turning to the Kurds, and Shiites opposing the call.

The demand for the deployment of the Peshmergas began with Salim al-Jibouri, a Diyala MP in the Iraqi parliament, who recently said the fighters were needed to counter armed groups and rising instability.

Diyala is home to several major Kurdish towns and villages, and at times the Kurdistan Regional Government has sent in its Peshmarga forces to protect Kurds fleeing in large numbers to parts of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Ahmad Saeed, the head of the Sunni endowment office in Baquba who blames the country’s Shiite leaders in Baghdad for the deteriorating security situation, agrees that only the predominantly Sunni Kurds can impose security.

Saeed, a prominent Friday preacher, has called for the formation of a new special force to work alongside the Peshmergas for security.

But Qasim Mamouri, spokesperson for the Shiite-dominated Diyala National Coalition, says that despite people’s legitimate concerns for safety, the deployment of any outside force is unacceptable.

“We do want the protection of this province’s population, but not just one particular group,” he told Rudaw. “But we vehemently oppose the formation of any ethnic-based force for the purpose of protection.”

Mamouri added that the cause of the problems in Diyala is political, and has to do with how the provincial administration is structured.

“Therefore, we welcome a suggestion by the (Shiite) Sadr Movement to dissolve the current administration, change the governor and form a new administration that would embrace all groups,” he said.

This political dispute, said Mamouri, is what has got some armed groups excited.

Sunni religious leaders across the province spoke out in Friday sermons last week about the persecution of Sunni residents by Shiite militias. They called for the establishment of a Sunni protection force.

Saeed said that the Sunnis can no longer trust the Iraqi army or security forces, following raids to capture suspected Sunni insurgents.

“The Sunnis have full trust in the Peshmerga forces because they have proven their neutrality in the past,” he said.

Diyala

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[Yzd Khalifa]

Terrorists, and racist creatures have no room in humanity, treating the Kurds as if they were subhuman beings makes me sick to my stomach.

Peshmerga forces will come and save the poor Kurds.

 

[Gautam]

Sunnis kill shias in Pakistan and shias kill sunnis in Iraq. Wow. Just wow.

 

[Pak-Americanos]

Terrorists, and racist creatures have no room in humanity, treating the Kurds as if they were subhuman beings makes me sick to my stomach.

Peshmerga forces will come and save the poor Kurds.

Isn't it interesting that the same people who use the Kurdish genocide by Saddam as an excuse for power are the same people calling Kurds "animals and $hits". They make me sick to my stomach. They could care less about Kurds and more about getting power. If you think of it most people in Saddam's Army that were killing Kurds were these same people who are now calling the shots in Baghdad.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

Isn't it interesting that the same people who use the Kurdish genocide by Saddam as an excuse for power are the same people calling Kurds "animals and $hits". They make me sick to my stomach. They could care less about Kurds and more about getting power. If you think of it most people in Saddam's Army that were killing Kurds were these same people who are now calling the shots in Baghdad.

You thought right, disgusting racists creatures, even Al-Nusrah terrorists are milder than them..

 

[The SiLent crY]

To be honest , Kurds have always been used in history and always been victims . I hope this never happens again .

 

[Alshawi1234]

Terrorists, and racist creatures have no room in humanity, treating the Kurds as if they were subhuman beings makes me sick to my stomach.

Peshmerga forces will come and save the poor Kurds.

None of the attacks were against Kurds... It seems you missed that point.
When the American forces invaded, the Kurdish region was one of the bases where they attacked from. The peshmerga came with the Americans to fight the Sunni population in Mosul and Kirkuk. Many of diyala's Kurds are Fayli Kurds whom are Shia and not Sunni.

These attacked are against Arab Sunni mosques in "retaliation" to the attacks against Shias in Diyala. In 2004-2006 Alqaeda was in control of the province and have killed thousands of Shias.

There are tens of bombings daily targeting both Sunnis and Shias, yet you only focus on one and forget the other, although their both wrong. Alqaeda Sectarian attacks are on the rise, and that will only lead to retaliation by the Shia militias. Just yesterday 14 Shia truck drivers were stopped and killed in Salahidden.

This is how the 2006 civil war started, and their are foreign supported groups who want see another civil war in Iraq, hundreds of millions of dollars are being pumped by Turkey and Qatar to support these Groups.

 

[Alshawi1234]

You thought right, disgusting racists creatures, even Al-Nusrah terrorists are milder than them..

Umm, no.. Nothing beats nusrah, besides war has already ignited between the Kurds and Nusrah, I wonder who's side you support.

 

[Alshawi1234]

Sunnis kill shias in Pakistan and shias kill sunnis in Iraq. Wow. Just wow.

Most of the attacks are against Shias, the retaliation attacks by Shia only begun a few months ago after tens of Shias have been getting killed on a daily basis, they are both wrong and both terrorists, but it wouldn't be happening if Sunni terrorists groups would just stop the daily targeting of Shia. When the security situation was getting better in 2011, we never hear of any Sunnis being targeted for months, the Syrian situation and the increased alqaeda activity in Iraq changed that unfortunately

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

Umm, no.. Nothing beats nusrah, besides war has already ignited between the Kurds and Nusrah, I wonder who's side you support.

Ever saw me clapping my hands to the terrorists?

 

[Serpentine]

Sunnis kill shias in Pakistan and shias kill sunnis in Iraq. Wow. Just wow.

Absolute majority of terror attacks in Iraq are against Shias. You barely pass a week without hearing the news of a terrorist attack.
However,both Shias and Sunnis are victims of these animals.They blow up everyone who stands in their way.

 

[Pakistanisage]

This Shia Sunni Madness has to stop or there won't be anyone left to Worship Allah SWT.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

I don't want to play pity-party role, you guys are both wrong, until you admit you're wrong or you will continue killing each other.

None of the attacks were against Kurds... It seems you missed that point.
When the American forces invaded, the Kurdish region was one of the bases where they attacked from. The peshmerga came with the Americans to fight the Sunni population in Mosul and Kirkuk. Many of diyala's Kurds are Fayli Kurds whom are Shia and not Sunni.

This Shia Sunni Madness has to stop or there won't be anyone left to Worship Allah SWT.

You're not talking to decent people tbqh honest. For myself both are wrong, and it is highly unlikely that we could see them getting along with each other. The days when Sunnis and Shias lived in peace were gone in 1979..

 

[Doritos11]

We are part of the proxy war like in Syria only its calmer in Iraq, so the killing will stop once GCC, Turkey and Iran shake hands with each other, as for now Iraq will live in terror, 10 years will be needed for an effective military and intelligence agency.

 

[Syrian Lion]

@Quantifier how come you never open threads like these that happen on a daily basis?

Iraqi militants kill 14 Shia Muslims at roadblock ? RT News