Baghdad blamed by MP for mass tribal execution

Iraqi government and US-led coalition failed to support MP's tribe in its confrontation with the IS group, alleges parliamentarian.

MENA

2 min read

Al-Araby al-Jadeed

01 November, 2014

The al-Bu Nimr tribe needed help, said MP [Getty]

An Iraqi member of parliament said on Friday that he blamed the government and the US-led coalition for the deaths of at least 220 members of the al-Bu Nimr tribe at the hands of the Islamic state group (IS, formerly known as ISIS) in the city of Hit in Anbar province, west Iraq.

Ghazi al-Gaoud is himself a sheikh of the al-Bu Nimr tribe.

"The whole government, including the prime minister, president and parliament - as well as Washington and London - are responsible for the blood of the al-Bu Nimr tribe that has been spilled," he said.

"When the government was sworn in, it promised to protect this country's land and people, which it has not done."

He added that he had asked the president and high-ranking military leaders to air-drop weapons to the tribal fighters so they could continue to fight the IS group, which had laid siege to the tribe for more than a month.

"The IS managed to defeat the al-Bu Nimr fighters a week ago because they lacked equipment and ammunition. It executed at least 220 and buried them in a mass grave." he said.

The IS executed at least 220 and buried them in a mass grave.
- Ghazi al-Gaoud, MP

The United States and Britain have failed in their duty to support fighters confronting IS on the ground, said Gaoud.

"The al-Bu Nimr bought their equipment and weapons with their own money for ten years. They are facing the IS without military aid from the Iraqi government or the coalition despite the many requests for aid," Gaoud added.

General Rashid Flayeh, military commander in Anbar province, announced the execution of the members of the Sunni al-Bu Nimr tribe on Thursday. According to the Anadolu news agency, several of the dead were local police officers.

Since the beginning of the year, the al-Karmah district of Fallujah, Ramadi and other parts of Anbar with a Sunni majority have been under control of the IS and pro-IS militias who took up arms in opposition to former prime minister Nour al-Maliki.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.