Las Vegas Sun

April 17, 2024

In this Saturday, June 14, 2014, photo, Iraqi Shiite tribal fighters raise their weapons and chant slogans against the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Baghdad's Sadr city, Iraq. Emboldened by a call to arms by the top Shiite cleric, Iranian-backed militias have moved quickly to the center of Iraq’s political landscape, spearheading what its Shiite majority sees as a fight for survival against Sunni militants who control of large swaths of territory north of Baghdad. The poster at top depicts Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, the late father of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Karim Kadim / AP

In this Saturday, June 14, 2014, photo, Iraqi Shiite tribal fighters raise their weapons and chant slogans against the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Baghdad's Sadr city, Iraq. Emboldened by a call to arms by the top Shiite cleric, Iranian-backed militias have moved quickly to the center of Iraq’s political landscape, spearheading what its Shiite majority sees as a fight for survival against Sunni militants who control of large swaths of territory north of Baghdad. The poster at top depicts Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, the late father of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.