Lies Exposed: Rapid Support and the Escaping Outlaws Abu Quta and Al-Muallaq as Examples
Osman Fadlallah
What happened in Al-Muallaq confirms that attempts to dismiss the looting and robbery carried out by individuals affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces, under the category of "escaping" elements, are nothing more than a fabricated lie. This narrative wont be able to manage the misconduct of these forces that have spread throughout the state, where villages had been living in peace, making the presence of a police station a source of admiration and wonder for its children, regarding the police officers as extraordinary beings.
Some of these villages have not recorded a single murder throughout their history, with thefts (mostly of goats) or a few rounds of corn being the extent of criminal activities. Even these were rare, and in their casual conversations, residents would say, "This happened on the day of a clever goat theft." This is how life unfolded for them, and they followed its paths accordingly.
The Rapid Support Forces stormed the Jazeera State 25 days ago, hearing gunfire for the first time in their lives. They witnessed gratuitous death and armed robbery, which they thought of as mythical creatures akin to "ghouls" and "Wad Am Balo." Lets take what happened in Al-Muallaq, which dominated the news scene over the past two days, as an example.
After the fall of the civilian government, according to reliable narrators, the village began to suffer violations committed by individuals from the Rapid Support Forces. In the early days, groups of them arrived in the village, attacking the bank, police station, court, and hospital in search of money and valuables. According to accounts gathered from various village residents, they found nothing in those locations due to the poverty of the people and, consequently, the lack of state institutions. There was neither sufficient money nor fancy cars in Al-Muallaq. Out of frustration, they believed that people were hiding their possessions, especially after breaking into the local bank branch, finding only meager amounts.
They spent their day in the village, and at night, they raided the house of a man from the village who worked as a bank driver. They demanded that he reveal hidden money and safes, and when he couldnt provide any information, they killed him in front of his wife and children. The villagers mourned their dead and gathered, going to the individuals who had settled in some houses, expelling them from the village. At this point, we can consider this group as escaping outlaws.
The repeated attempts of the village residents to repel the attacks, and based on the repeated statements of militia leaders that those involved in looting and robbery are escaping elements, prompted the youth to arm themselves to protect their village. They set up checkpoints at bridges and entrances, and clashes continued between them and the attackers, resulting in the killing of seven individuals from the attacking forces and an unknown number of defenders.
Last Tuesday, just before the Dhuhr prayer, the Rapid Support Forces invaded the village with no fewer than 11 Toyota vehicles, accompanied by a massive number of soldiers and SUVs. They arrested those at the checkpoints, and a wave of violations, disgraceful and heart-wrenching, began. House invasions, intimidation of women and children, looting of whatever little money they found, beatings, and humiliation spared no household, child, or elderly.
A similar but less intense situation occurred in the town of Abu Quta, which Kikil visited a few days ago and appointed a new mayor. It is evident that the attacks on these small towns unequivocally expose the lie of the escaping narrative, shedding light on the deceitfulness of the Rapid Support Forces leadership, brick by brick.
And Allah is the Helper.
