Seven million weapons on the loose.. Where is the government from the clans’ militarization?

Shafaq News / For decades, Iraq has been suffering from the militarization of its society, but now it has reached a frightening stage; due to the slip of arms and the clash of clans with each other –as happens in Basra as an example, at the expense of the lives of civilians, as well as the prestige and credibility of the state.

Government estimates put the Iraqi tribes alone with about seven million weapons; and unofficial estimates speak of about 30 weapons per 100 citizens - ranks between individual, medium, and heavy, but there are no official statistics on the phenomenon of the proliferation of weapons. Iraq is among the countries with the most widespread weapons among its citizens, along with Yemen, Syria, Libya, and Somalia.

Furthermore, there are no official estimates of the number of victims of loose weapons in Iraq, but it is certain that in the post-2003, thousands of victims have been killed and injured as a result of this deadly phenomenon.

The worsening of this phenomenon does not reflect the strength of tribalism in Iraq, as many factors have contributed to its amplification over the years. In recent Iraqi history, Iraqi leaders have been distributing pistols and rifles as gifts to tribal elders and various figures in society to gain their loyalty.

Abd Al-Karim Qasim practiced this tradition -which supposedly expresses respect and a desire to strengthen the relationship- and his successors, down to Saddam Hussein, continued to carry it out.

But the loose weapons’ crisis escalated after the U.S. invasion in 2003; the collapse of the regime's military organization, the seizure of weapon depots, as well as the flow of weapons from abroad as part of smuggling and deals brokered by merchants, brokers, party leaders, and armed forces.

The tenser the security situation is, the greater the eagerness to acquire weapons. At the height of the sectarian killing in Iraq in the early years of the American invasion, the arms market flourished openly and largely. In the same context, when ISIS invaded Iraq, it was only normal that Iraqis would accept to buy as many individual weapons as they could.

But so far, the Iraqi state has made no significant attempts to collect weapons or prevent its spread in such a frightening way. To the extent that many aspects of carrying weapons are no longer linked to customs, traditions and, relevance; but to the proliferation of armed groups -whether associated with the popular mobilization forces (PMF) or others, whose fate has become linked to internal, regional, security, and political complexities.

Now there is a massive proliferation of weapons among the tribesmen in Basra; from guns and pistols, down to mortars, anti-tank missiles, and Katyusha rockets.

Up until now, there is no clear government plan to restrict arms by the state, but Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has stated more than once about the sovereignty of the state's weapons over the past few weeks. The choice of security forces extracting the tribesmen weapons may lead to a bloodbath, especially in the light of the absence of a comprehensive national plan to gather the weapon, encourage people to cooperate by giving them confidence in the state's ability to protect them, thus eliminating the need to acquire weapons in homes.

Indeed, the weapons in Basra are also linked to local gangs and extortion groups against companies and entrepreneurs, but the circumstance of tribes’ weapons in Basra has come to the point where they engage in armed clashes between them -some of which last for several hours- leaving behind victims on all sides, sometimes for reasons related to a dispute over land ownership, customs, retaliation, or other social problems.

Security services in Basra occasionally announce the seizure of heavy and medium-sized weapons; believed to be used in tribal conflicts in Basra.

Nathir Al-Shawi, mayor of Al-Hartha district (located in the north of Basra), told Shafaq News agency that, tribal conflicts were not resolved by the operations command; clan conflicts in the center of the province were also outside the control of the security forces -despite having armored brigades.

"If the state was serious about stopping these conflicts, they would have stopped them within 24 hours; they are not, due to negligence and the pretext that there is no possibility and compassion for citizens”, Al-Shawi said.

Al-Shawi added, "We assure the Iraqi government that the leaders of some of the clans want to resolve the tribal conflicts that are taking place in different regions, with the emphasis of resolving them by government agencies".

He also pointed out that, the permanence of these conflicts will suspend many important projects in Basra; which may not be completed in the light of problems and blackmail for some companies. The continuation of conflicts means instability in Iraq and the north of Basra, including the district of Al-Hartha.

Speaking to Shafaq News agency, The Speaker of Iraq’s –unofficial- tribal parliament in the southern region, Aqeel Al-Hilfi, called on Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi to listen to the office's demands concerning heavy, medium, and light weapons owned by some tribes.

Al-Hilfi said, “Several proposals had already been put to the local government to curb the proliferation of heavy weapons held by some tribes in the province, calling for tough action and strict law against repeated conflicts”.

He said the proposals; which are to be submitted to the prime minister, the local government in Basra, the operational and police commands, including limiting heavy weapons to the hands of the state and security forces and putting forward the idea of selling heavy weapons to security forces to reduce the frequency of such conflicts.
Noting that the government is sometimes unable to stop the conflicts that are repeated in some areas, he also called for a firm decision against such conflicts; of which the victims are citizens who have no guilt in any clan conflict.

Al-Hilfi said that there were many cooperating clans; some of which refused to have heavy weapons. He suggested that some clans must pledge to not acquire heavy weapons.

Talib Al-Hasuna, Safuan district director Told Shafaq News agency that all areas of Iraq have tribal conflicts, though these conflicts have recently decreased significantly after the iraqi judiciary decided to consider the tribal “dakka” as a terrorist crime (which is a centuries-old tradition where armed tribesmen go to another tribe’s member’s house, fire shots and throw hand grenades to terrify those at the house; this is considered as a strongly worded warning to push the other clan to negotiate and settle the dispute, otherwise, matters get worse and lead to a clash that ends with casualties on both sides).

Al-Hasuna considered the security agencies' preoccupation with the application of the curfew as the main reason behind the escalation of the clans' feuds, especially in the north of Basra. He also said that "If the judicial decisions are implemented, these armed conflicts will gradually end in Basra”.