„A highway overpass in Fallujah is plastered with Shiite banners, graffiti and posters of militia leaders, a virtual shrine to victory over the Islamic State group in this majority Sunni Muslim city. The fight to wrest Fallujah from IS control appears to have inflicted considerably less damage to the city’s infrastructure than past battles. But scenes like this have the potential to undermine the military’s success and hamper the broader fight against IS by reigniting the sectarian tensions that helped fuel the militant group’s rise in Iraq. (…)
The operation to retake Fallujah, which had been held by IS since 2014, was announced in late May. In a bid to reduce sectarian conflict and prevent abuses, Iraq’s military said the government-sanctioned Shiite militias participating in the fight would not enter the center of Fallujah. But days later, Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed, were seen walking openly in the streets. (…) Small groups of Shiite militiamen fought under the banner of the federal police, but once the operation was declared complete, the militia fighters began raising their own flags. Some Iraqi commanders – speaking anonymously, because they are not authorized to discuss the operation – said the militiamen set fire to houses in the city.“
(Susannah George: „After IS defeat, Fallujah victory takes on sectarian tones“)