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BAGHDAD — The senior Shiite cleric in Iraq issued an urgent call to arms on Friday, telling all able-bodied Iraqis to help the government fight Sunni militants who have seized broad stretches of Iraqi territory, in a sign of the growing desperation of the country’s Shiites and its shaky central government.
BAGHDAD — The senior Shiite cleric in Iraq issued an urgent call to arms on Friday, telling all able-bodied Iraqis to help the government fight Sunni militants who have seized broad stretches of Iraqi territory. The call was a sign of the growing desperation of the country’s Shiites and its shaky Shiite-led central government.
In a statement during Friday prayers, a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the senior Shiite cleric in Iraq, said it was “the legal and national responsibility of whoever can hold a weapon, to hold it to defend the country, the citizens and the holy sites.”
In a statement read by a representative during Friday prayers, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani said it was “the legal and national responsibility of whoever can hold a weapon to hold it to defend the country, the citizens and the holy sites.”
Ayatollah Sistani has enormous stature among Shiites, but is also respected by Sunnis and other groups because in the darkest days of the sectarian fighting in 2006 he refrained from inflammatory language and repeatedly reached out to Sunnis, Kurds, the country’s Christians and other minorities.
Ayatollah Sistani has enormous stature among Shiites, but he is also respected by Sunnis and members of other groups, in part because in 2006, in the darkest days of sectarian fighting in Iraq, he refrained from inflammatory language and repeatedly reached out to Sunnis, Kurds, the country’s Christians and other minorities.
But the ayatollah’s plea, while directed at all Iraqis, would most likely be heeded by Shiites, sharply increasing the likelihood of Iraq sliding into open sectarian warfare.
The ayatollah’s plea was directed at all Iraqis, but it was most likely to be heeded by Shiites, which could widen sectarian divisions in the country even further.
The representative of Ayatollah Sistani, Sheikh Abdul Mehdi al-Karbalaie, speaking in Karbala, one of Iraq’s holiest cities for Shiites, said the numbers of fighters and volunteers “must fill the gaps within the security forces,” but he cautioned they should not do more that, stopping short of calling for a general armed response to the rebellion led by the Sunni jihadi group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The representative of Ayatollah Sistani, Sheikh Abdul Mehdi al-Karbalaie, spoke in Karbala, regarded by Shiites as one of Iraq’s holiest cities. The sheikh said volunteers “must fill the gaps within the security forces,” but cautioned that they should not do any more than that.
He emphasized that all Iraqis, not only Shias should join the fight, underscoring that everyone needed to pull together or the country could fall into sectarian warfare. However, it seemed unlikely that many Sunnis would be moved to do so, especially in an atmosphere of deepening distrust between the sects. And many Sunnis feel squeezed as well because they have little sympathy for the extremist militants from ISIS.
The statement stopped short of calling for a general armed response to the incursion led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a Sunni extremist group that has emerged as one of the most potent opposition forces in the Syrian civil war and that now controls large areas of both Syria and northern Iraq.
The call came as the militants had fanned out to the east, at least temporarily seizing two towns near the Iranian border, Saadiyah and Jalawla. But, several hours after the capture of the towns, security officials in Baghdad said that government troops, backed by Kurdish forces, had counterattacked, forcing the insurgents to withdraw in a rare victory.
The sheikh emphasized that all Iraqis should join the fight, pulling together; otherwise the country could slide into all-out sectarian warfare. But in a time of mounting frictions and deepening distrust between the sects, it appeared unlikely that many Sunnis would answer the ayatollah’s call. Many Sunnis feel little sympathy either for the government or for the extremists of ISIS.
The capture of the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla came a day after Kurdish forces further north seized on the accelerating rout of government troops to take over the oil city of Kirkuk, long contested between Iraqi Kurds and the country’s Arab leaders in Baghdad.
Volunteers began to appear at the southern gate to Baghdad, which leads to the predominantly Shiite south of the country, within an hour after Mr. Karbalaie broadcast Ayatollah Sistani’s call.
The Kurds control a semiautonomous region and have long eyed independence. The Kurdish moves on Thursday presented Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki with a twin challenge from Kurds and from Sunni militants to restore Iraq’s cohesion and his government’s authority in face of the apparent disintegration of the American-armed Iraqi Army and the worst security crisis since the American withdrawal in 2011.
At the police post there, by the soaring arches that mark the city limits, a pickup truck driven by elders pulled up with six young men in the back.
The ISIS forces appeared intent on driving toward Baghdad, spreading a deepening sense of alarm as government troops failed to resist and in some cases abandoned their posts.
“We heard Ali Sistani’s call for jihad, so we’re coming here to fight the terrorism everywhere, not just in Iraq,” said Ali Mohsin Alwan al-Amiri, one of the elders.
The sectarian conflict has drawn warnings of intervention from Tehran and Washington, who are watching the growing chaos with alarm.
The Sunni insurgents continued their offensive on Friday, fanning out to the east of the Tigris River, and at least temporarily seized two towns near the Iranian border, Sadiyah and Jalawla. Security officials in Baghdad said government troops, backed by Kurdish forces, counterattacked several hours later and forced the insurgents to withdraw, a rare success.
The senior clerics’ language and tone made it a religious and patriotic act to to volunteer either for the army or join the Shiite militias that increasingly cannot be differentiated from each other.
The Kurds control a semiautonomous region in northern Iraq and have long sought independence. As the militants advanced on Thursday, their forces took full control of Kirkuk, an oil center that had been contested by the Kurds and the country’s Arab leaders for years, after the Iraqi Army abandoned its posts there.
There were cheers and shouted chants of “It will be done” when Mr. Karbalie said, “Whoever can hold a weapon has to volunteer to join the security forces.”
The apparent disintegration of some units of the American-armed Iraqi Army and the loss of control of Kirkuk and the Sunni areas overrun by the militants represented the worst security crisis in Iraq since the American withdrawal in 2011, threatening the country’s future as a cohesive state.
Mr. Al-Karbalaie appeared to be reading a statement from Mr. Sistani and the other senior clerics and people in Mr. Sistani’s office said it was a response to a statement from the leadership of ISIS which threatened not just northern Sunni areas of Iraq, but also Baghdad and the cities of Karbala and Najaf, which are among the holiest places to Shiite Muslims.
Both the United States and Iran have watched events with alarm and have issued warnings of possible intervention.
“Iraq and the Iraqi people are facing great danger, the terrorists are not aiming to control just several provinces, they said clearly they are targeting all other provinces including Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf.
In its language and tone, Ayatollah Sistani’s statement portrayed it as a religious and patriotic act to to volunteer either for the Iraqi Army or for a Shiite militia, two forces that are becoming difficult to distinguish from one another.
“So the responsibility to face them and fight them is the responsibility of all, not one sect or one party. The responsibility now is saving Iraq, saving our country, saving the holy places of Iraq from these sects,” he said.
When the ayatollah’s representative, Mr. Karbalaie, said, “Whoever can hold a weapon has to volunteer to join the security forces,” the call was greeted with cheersand shouts of “It will be done!”
Since the fall of the northern city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest, senior officers in the army have been meeting with local committees and Shiite militias in Baghdad and asking them to n round up volunteers to help bolster the government forces in the face of the steady advance of the Sunni militants who are negotiating and in some cases fighting their way toward Baghdad.
People in Ayatollah Sistani’s office said the statement was a response to one issued by the leadership of ISIS threatening to seize not just the predominantly Sunni areas of northern Iraq, but also Baghdad and the cities of Karbala and Najaf, which are sacred to Shiite Muslims.
Friday’s call to arms appeared to be meant to augment that effort.
“Iraq and the Iraqi people are facing great danger,” Mr. Karbalaie said. “The terrorists are not aiming to control just several provinces. They said clearly they are targeting all other provinces including Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. So the responsibility to face them and fight them is the responsibility of all, not one sect or one party. The responsibility now is saving Iraq, saving our country, saving the holy places of Iraq.”
Kurdish troops, operating freely in areas northeast of Baghdad, had moved into Jalawla to secure their political party offices before the Sunni militants aligned with the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took over the town, news reports said., There were no immediate reports of casualties. The town is in ethnically mixed Diyala Province — a tinderbox region bordering Iran that controls one approach to Baghdad through the town of Baquba, 20 miles north of the capital.
Since the insurgents captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, senior officers in the army have been meeting with local committees and Shiite militias in Baghdad and asking them to round up volunteers to bolster the government forces. Maj. Gen. Abdul Jabbar, commander of the 11th Division, went to a stadium in the Hussainiya neighborhood to speak to a gathering of local sheikhs, and called on each of them to produce 50 volunteers.
Other accounts said the militants, riding in pickups mounted with machine guns, had entered the two towns late on Thursday, encountering no resistance from government troops, who abandoned their posts as they had done elsewhere during the insurgents’ lightning campaign, which began on Tuesday with the capture of Mosul.
On the main axis of the insurgent advance, the highway running south from Mosul to the capital, there were no indications on Friday that the militants had succeeded in taking Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad, which is home to a Shiite shrine and is reportedly defended by Shiite militias. “We hope that all the Shiite groups will come together and move as one man to protect Baghdad and the other Shiite areas,” said Abu Mujahid, one of the militia leaders.
Since then, the militants seem to have been emboldened by the capture of American-supplied military equipment left behind by government forces as they withdrew.
Iran’s state-run news media reported this week that Tehran had strengthened its forces along the Iraq border and suspended all pilgrim visas into Iraq, but had received no request from Iraq for military help. Reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guards troops had crossed the border into Iraq to assist the government forces could not be confirmed; Shiite militia leaders in the capital said they knew of no such move and had not asked Iran to send troops.
There were reports that Iraqi government troops — who have abandoned several key locations in addition to Mosul, Iraq’s second city, and Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein — had lobbed artillery shells into the two captured towns from near Muqdadiya, around 50 miles from Baghdad, prompting an exodus of civilians.
The insurgents have pledged to march on Baghdad, but seizing and controlling the sprawling Iraqi capital, with its large population of Shiites, is likely to prove much more difficult than advancing across a Sunni heartland with little sympathy for the central government.
On the main axis of combat along the highway running south from Mosul there were no indications early on Friday that the insurgents had been able to seize the front-line town of Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad, which is home to a Shiite shrine and is reportedly defended by militias from Iraq’s Shiite majority.
For its part, the administration of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has seemed bewildered by the crisis. It was unable to muster a quorum in Parliament this week to approve a state of emergency.
Thousands of Shiite volunteers were reported to be mobilizing. “We hope that all the Shiite groups will come together and move as one man to protect Baghdad and the other Shiite areas,” said Abu Mujahid, one of the militia leaders.
On Friday, however, an spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying, “We put in place a new plan to protect Baghdad.”
In the east, the reports of insurgent activity in Diyala Province followed unconfirmed reports that Iran, an ally of Mr. Maliki’s Shiite-led government, had sent Revolutionary Guards into Iraq. Iraqi Shiite militia leaders contacted in Baghdad said they knew of no such assistance from Iran and had not asked for any.
Iran’s state-run news media reported this week that Tehran had strengthened its forces along the Iraq border and suspended all pilgrim visas into Iraq but had received no request from Iraq for military help.
The insurgents have pledged to march on Baghdad, and even to strike at Shiite holy cities further south. The sprawling Iraqi capital, with its large population of Shiites, is likely to prove a more daunting operation than the militants’ advance across a Sunni heartland with little sympathy for the central government.
For its part, Mr. Maliki’s administration seems bewildered by the insurgent advance. It was unable even to muster sufficient numbers in Parliament to vote on the prime minister’s call for a state of emergency that would provide him with the authority to order curfews, restrict movements and censor news reporting.
On Friday, however, an spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying: “We put in place a new plan to protect Baghdad.”
“The plan consists of intensifying the deployment of forces, and increasing intelligence efforts and the use of technology such as observation balloons and cameras and other equipment,” General Maan said.
