Peshmerga Ministry: Shia militia threats is no news
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - The remarks made by an Iraqi Shia militia leader regarding the Kurdistan Region is filled with hostilities, and their threats are nothing new, said Peshmerga Ministry on Thursday in response to the Shia militia.
Recently, Qais al-Khazali the founder and leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-backed Shia militia in Iraq in an interview on an Iraqi TV, stated that “The biggest issue that Iraq is going to face will appear after the war on IS. That is the Kurdish problem and specifically Mr. Masoud Barzani.”
In a statement, the spokesperson of Peshmerga Ministry stated, “We tell the militia group and its leader that your threats against Kurdistan is not something new and your activities against the people of Iraq is clear for everyone.”
The statement continued, “You have beheaded hundreds of Iraqi people for their religious and ethnic background, and you should be tried in court for these crimes.”
It also mentions that the people of Kurdistan Region have faced genocide, attacked by Saddam’s chemical attack, cut of budget share by former Iraqi Prime Minister and Nouri al-Maliki and others.
“If you also want to impose another genocidal campaign against the Kurdish people, stop threatening, test yourself to see your genocidal campaign too,” the statement read.
The Spokesperson also hoped that the hostile remarks of al-Khazali are his and his group’s, not that of Hashd al-Shaabi.
Hashd al-Shaabi consists of over 50 Shia militia groups established in 2014 by Ali al-Sistani, a top Shia cleric in Iraq.
Kurdistan Region Presidency (KRP) spokesperson also released a statement recently, stating, “Those who have the intention to occupy the land of people of Kurdistan will eventually vanish.”
It is not the first time that the militia group threatens the Kurdistan Region; the militia’s leaders have frequently made hostile remarks against Peshmerga and the Region.
Editing by Ava Homa