Three days after Mosul fell to the ISIS group in 2014, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on Iraqis to volunteer to fight the terrorists, a step that helped to halt their sweeping offensive.
Abadi issued a statement expressing his "deep thanks and gratitude" to Ayatollah Sistani for "his great and continuing support to the heroic fighters."
The cleric's 2014 call for volunteers "saved Iraq and paved the way for victory" over ISIS, Abadi said Abadi's message comes as the battle to retake second city Mosul nears its conclusion -- a redemption for forces that performed poorly there three years before.
Ayatollah Sistani made the call via a representative speaking at Friday prayers on June 13, 2014, days after Iraqis collapsed in the face of the ISIS assault in the north.
"Citizens who are able to bear arms and fight terrorists, defending their country and their people and their holy places, should volunteer and join the security forces to achieve this holy purpose," he said.
It sparked a flood of volunteers who were organised under what became known as the Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation forces -- an umbrella group for pro-government paramilitaries that is officially under the command of the country's premier.
The fatwa helped Shia fighters, Sunni tribesmen as well as Christian and Yezidi volunteers gather under one umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), commonly known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, to prevent ISIS' advances.
In the early days of ISIS emergence, Iraqi government forces, who overwhelmed by the terror group’s lightening advances, suffered heavy blows on the battle ground.
The Iraqi parliament last year recognized Hashd al-Sha’abi as an official force with similar rights as those of the regular army.
/257
1 July 2017 - 12:09
News ID: 839769
(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Friday thanked Iraq's top Shiite cleric for his role in the war against terrorists, crediting him with saving the country and setting the stage for victory.
