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MIDDLE EAST | NYT NOW
In the Shadows of Shrines, Shiite Forces Are
Preparing to Fight ISIS
By THOMAS ERDBRINK JUNE 26, 2014
KARBALA, Iraq A dozen miles outside this shrine city, on the edges of
the uninhabitable western Iraqi desert, a group of paramilitary policemen
provides the only visible line of defense against the extremist Islamic State
in Iraq and Syria.
Hunkered down in a command post, its walls fortified with concrete
and rubble, the policemens leader, Col. Hossein Alegeli, is dispatching one
of his ranger teams deep into the sultry wastes in search of Islamic
extremists determined to destroy the holy shrines of Shiite Islam. The team
might be the first line of defense, but as Shiite officials in the area
scramble to meet the threat, it is hardly the last.
Most security officials in Iraqs Shiite holy twin cities, Karbala and
Najaf, home to the mausoleums of three of the most revered saints in
Shiite Islam, will tell you that the enemy poses little threat because there
are many more Shiite men and heavy weapons out there.
Somewhere.
Exactly where, they will not say. Two weeks ago, the spokesman for
ISIS, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, issued a warning to Iraqs embattled
prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, saying the extremist group would
settle its scores with him and the Shiites, not in Baghdad or in the northern
Iraqi shrine city of Samarra, but in Karbala, the filth-ridden city, and in
Najaf, the city of polytheists.
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One shrine, in Karbala, is as close as 50 miles from the ISIS
strongholds in the cities of Falluja and Ramadi. On Wednesday, ISIS took
control of the strategic desert city of Nukhayb on Highway 22, southwest
of Baghdad. The town guards the road to Karbala and Najaf.
There is little visible security in either city. In Najaf this week, a lone,
overweight gunner cut a less-than-intimidating figure as he sipped from a
water bottle while standing in the back of a pickup truck at the entrance of
the escalators leading to the shrine.
Not to worry, officials here say.
We are completely prepared, said the highest military commander
in the region, Lt. Gen. Othman Ali.
Do not worry, you are safe, assured the governor of Karbala, Akeel
al-Toreihi, who wears combat boots with his suit.
In Karbala, hidden from the tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims who
continue to visit the burial site of their saint Imam Hussein and that of his
half brother Abbas, the Iraqi Army and the police, assisted by thousands of
new volunteers, have started to build defensive rings around the city,
officials say.
It is only a matter of time before they try to attack us, said General
Ali, who is in charge of Karbala, Najaf and Diwaniya Provinces.
In his heavily guarded command post near the shrines, machine guns
and body armor stood at the ready. A group of Iraqi Special Forces soldiers
was on standby in one of the adjacent rooms.
M1 Abrams tanks, helicopters and cannons had been deployed in the
desert, as had a battalion of fanatical volunteers, called the chosen ones,
General Ali said in an interview on Tuesday, before the strategic desert
town was taken by ISIS.
Najaf, which lies roughly 50 miles south of Karbala, and is home to
the shrine of Imam Ali, the first saint of the Shiites, is under the same
protection, the commander and other officials said.
We are determined to keep the fights outside of the city, General Ali
said. On Sunday and Monday, reconnaissance forces engaged in combat
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with small pockets of ISIS fighters who were hidden in the ground, he
said, adding that the fighters had been investigating the citys defenses.
We should be happy with the enemys moves, as they keep us on
edge, he said. They are using random tactics to try and confuse us, but
we are completely ready.
General Ali, who had a large map with tactical positions in his office,
refused to allow access to any of his troops, saying it would jeopardize
their security.
Two weeks ago, the highest ranking Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, issued a call to arms to his followers to reinforce the Iraqi Army.
He did so, a senior official in Najaf said, because they are weak and had
many problems.
Throughout history opponents of Shiite Islam have waged attacks
against Karbala and Najaf, striking at the very heart of the faith. Sunni
Wahhabi tribes from Saudi Arabia have crossed into Iraq several times,
ransacking Karbala. In one of those raids, in 1807, they killed 4,000
people. Nevertheless, Najaf has often been able to withstand the attacks,
said Abdal Hadi al-Hakim, a member of Parliament from Najaf.
Such a thing would never happen now, he maintained. If the shrines
come under attack, all will rush to their defense, he said.
Thousands of men responded to Ayatollah Sistanis urgings, and this
week about 500 of them received training at a police academy just north of
Najaf.
The enemy will attack us in the cities, said a trainer, Ahmad Araji,
after he had outfitted some of the volunteers with plastic machine guns.
We are training here for urban warfare.
In Karbala, some security forces can be seen on the streets. Around
entrances to the twin shrines, heavily armed soldiers stand guard, most of
them discreetly hidden behind corners and in alcoves.
Outside his office, the governor of Karbala could be heard shouting at
other officials as an armed security guard facilitated a flurry of guests
coming to see Governor Toreihi.
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But inside, sitting on a white leather couch, the governor was
calmness personified. Every now and then there is a rumor of terrorists
inside the city, but that is all nonsense, he said. We believe Karbala is
safe.
There are three rings of defense around the city, the first in the desert,
the third on the edges of town, the governor explained. And of course
people here will not welcome the terrorists the way some have done in
Mosul, he added.
Outside Karbala, at the paramilitary police post in the desert, the men
looked over trucks and other vehicles passing the checkpoint. In his room,
Colonel Alegeli was watching a World Cup match. He was rooting for
Brazil, he said.
We are completely ready and prepared for any attack, Colonel
Alegeli repeated as more tea was brought in. All our units are deep in the
desert, controlling everything.
A version of this article appears in print on June 27, 2014, on page A6 of the New York edition with
the headline: In the Shadows of Shrines, Shiite Forces Are Preparing to Fight ISIS .
2014 The New York Times Company