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Persecution of Shias by the Islamic State

Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State (IS), an Islamic extremist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.

Persecution of Shias by the Islamic State

June 2014 – present

Despite being the religious majority in Iraq, Shia Muslims have been killed and otherwise persecuted by IS, which is Sunni. On 12 June 2014, the Islamic State killed 1,700 unarmed Shia Iraqi Army cadet recruits in the Camp Speicher massacre.[2][3][4] IS has also targeted Shia prisoners.[5] According to witnesses, after the militant group took the city of Mosul, they divided the Sunni prisoners from the Shia prisoners.[5] Up to 670[6] Shia prisoners were then taken to another location and executed.[5] Kurdish officials in Erbil reported on the incident of Sunni and Shia prisoners being separated and Shia prisoners being killed after the Mosul prison fell to IS.[5]


IS also targeted Christians and Yazidis in northern Iraq on a "historic scale", putting entire communities "at risk of being wiped off the map of Iraq". In a special report released on 2 September 2014, Amnesty International described how IS had "systematically targeted non-Sunni Muslim communities, killing or abducting hundreds, possibly thousands, of individuals and forcing more than tens of thousands of Shias, Sunnis, along with other minorities to flee the areas it has captured since 10 June 2014". The most targeted Shia groups in Nineveh Governorate were Shia Turkmens and Shabaks.[7]

The fall of Mosul[edit]

In summer 2014, Shia properties in Mosul and other IS-held areas were painted with the letter ⟨ر⟩ () for Rafidah, a derogatory term for Shias used by Sunni Muslims. Houses and shops owned by Shias were confiscated by IS and given to local IS supporters or IS foreign fighters.[8] Thousands of Shia Shabaks and Turkmen fled the cities of Mosul, Tal Afar, and the rest of Nineveh Governorate to safer Shia-majority areas further south.[7]

Attacks against Shias in Bashir[edit]

Thousands of Shias from villages in Salahudin and Kirkuk governorates fled to neighbouring villages in Kirkuk after three Shia villages were attacked by ISIL and at least 40 civilians including children were killed near the town of Bashir.[8][9]

Destruction of Shia shrines and places of worship[edit]

The Islamic State views Shia Muslims as polytheists and heretics. Therefore, it started a campaign to destroy all Shia shrines, mosques and places of worship in Nineveh and all IS-held areas. Reports stated that at least 10 Shia shrines and hussiniyas including historical ones in Mosul and Tal Afar were demolished or blown up by IS during this campaign. On March 26, 2014, IS blew up the Shia shrine of the companion of Muhammad, Uwais al-Qarni.[10] In July 2016, IS attacked a Shia shrine during the Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi Mausoleum attack, killing anywhere from 56 to at least 100 people.

List of Islamic State attacks on Shias[edit]

Yazidi genocide

Iraqi Turkmen genocide

Persecution of Christians by the Islamic State

Camp Speicher massacre

Badush prison massacre

2016 Karrada bombing

Collaboration with the Islamic State