Karbala Friday Prayers’ Leader:

ISIL after sectarian revenge

Rasa – Ayatollah Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbala’i said: "Takfiri groups are trying to take sectarian revenge against innocent men, women and children and the elderly by bombing markets and crowded places."

News ID: 2998

Date: 24 July 2015 - 21:26

RNA – During his Friday prayer sermon delivered to a fervent crowd of believers in the Iraqi city of Karbala’s Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn (A), Ayatollah Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbala’i said that in recent weeks, Iraq’s brave armed forces, Popular Mobilization Forces and tribal volunteers have strongly assaulted ISIL forces, and these Takfiri forces have suffered substantial losses.

“These groups are trying, with their criminal instincts, to take sectarian revenge against innocent men, women and children and the elderly by bombing markets and crowded places but eventually they will suffer the pains of defeat,” he said.

His Eminence also mentioned last Friday’s Eid attack in the predominantly Shi’a town of Khan Bani Sa’d in Diyala province and another attack in Baghdad, where “hundreds were martyred and wounded and the people’s happiness turned to mourning.”

The representative of Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani also stressed that ISIL’s terrorist acts are crimes which are illogical, unreasonable and not accepted by religion and morality.

He urged the Iraqi government to strengthen the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in sensitive areas and where terrorist groups are concentrated and noted that strengthening intelligence agencies in regional countries and tracking terrorist actions and activities will prevent them from committing terrorist acts and bloodshed in Iraq.

Ayatollah al-Karbala’i said the government should provide sufficient and advanced equipment to detect car bombs and provide and increase training so the security forces can detect hidden bombs and suicide bombers.

The renowned Iraqi cleric also called on regional countries to take “decisive measures” to stop the flow of foreign Takfiri militants into Iraq.

“The continuation of the policy of carelessness and giving a blind eye on the flow of these fighters into Iraq will increase the danger of these gangs to Iraq and they will represent a threat to their countries,” he said.

The Friday prayers’ leader of Karbala also called on the Iraqi government to take action to ‘provide social justice and welfare for their people to reduce the alarmingly high rates of poverty in the country.

He added that the government to reduce unnecessary government spending which doesn’t benefit the public, especially since the country is plagued by difficult economic conditions.

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