Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

have been persecuted by the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

(IS), an Islamist terrorist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, and other parts of the world. Despite being the religious majority in Iraq, Shia have been killed and otherwise persecuted by IS, which is

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

. On 12 June 2014, the Islamic State killed 1,700 unarmed Shia

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

cadet recruits in the

Camp Speicher massacre On 12 June 2014, the Islamic State (IS) summarily executed between 1,095 and 1,700 Iraqi cadets near Tikrit. The killings took place during IS's Northern Iraq offensive, when the cadets were captured outside of Camp Speicher during their at ...

. IS has also targeted Shia prisoners. According to witnesses, after the militant group took the city of

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

, they divided the Sunni prisoners from the Shia prisoners. Up to 670 Shia prisoners were then taken to another location and executed. Kurdish officials in

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

reported on the incident of Sunni and Shia prisoners being separated and Shia prisoners being killed after the Mosul prison fell to IS. IS also targeted

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

and

Yazidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...

in northern Iraq on a "historic scale", putting entire communities "at risk of being wiped off the map of Iraq". In a special report released on 2 September 2014,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

described how IS had "systematically targeted non-Sunni Muslim communities, killing or abducting hundreds, possibly thousands, of individuals and forcing more than tens of thousands of Shias, Sunnis, along with other minorities to flee the areas it has captured since 10 June 2014". The most targeted Shia groups in

Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate (; , ) is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of a ...

were Shia

Turkmens Turkmens (, , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, ...

and

Shabaks Shabaks (, ) are a group native to the Nineveh Plains in Iraq. Their origin is uncertain, although they are largely considered Kurds by scholars. They speak Shabaki, a branch of the Zaza–Gorani languages, one of the main Kurdish variants alo ...

Fall of Mosul

In summer 2014, Shia properties in

and other IS-held areas were painted with the letter ( rā) for '' Rafidah'', a derogatory term for Shias used by Sunni Muslims. Houses and shops owned by Shias were confiscated by IS and given to local IS supporters or IS foreign fighters. Thousands of Shia Shabaks and Turkmen fled the cities of Mosul,

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of Sinjar Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate (; , ) is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of a ...

to safer Shia-majority areas further south.

Attacks against Shias in Iraq

Thousands of Shias from villages in Salahudin and

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

governorates fled to neighbouring villages in Kirkuk after three

villages were attacked by IS and at least 40 civilians including children were killed near the town of Bashir.

Destruction of Shia shrines and places of worship

The Islamic State views Shia Muslims as polytheists and

heretics Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

. Therefore, it started a campaign to destroy all Shia shrines, mosques and places of worship in

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

and all IS-held areas. Reports stated that at least 10 Shia shrines and hussiniyas including historical ones in

and

Tal Afar Tal Afar (, ; ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located west of Mosul, east of SinjarShia shrine of the companion of Muhammad, Uwais al-Qarni. In July 2016, IS attacked a Shia shrine during the Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi Mausoleum attack, killing anywhere from 56 to at least 100 people.

Genocide claims

On 17 March 2016, United States Secretary of State

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

declared that the violence initiated by IS against

Shia Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

and others in Iraq and Syria amounted to

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. He said:

"In my judgment, Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including
Yazidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...
,
Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
and
Shia Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...
" – John Kerry

Kerry's statement came the same week the US House voted 383–0 in favor of classifying the atrocities committed by the Islamic State as a genocide against certain ethnic and religious minorities in its territories.

List of Islamic State attacks on Shias

Afghanistan

The Islamic State – Khorasan Province has committed bombing attacks against Hazara Shia civilians in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. *On February 24, 2015, 30 Shia men were kidnapped between Kabul and Kandahar. *On July 24, 2016, a suicide bombing occurred killing 80 Shias and 231 injured in Kabul during a protest. *On October 11, 2016, in Kart-e Sakhi, Kabul, 14 Shias were killed by a suicide bombing. *On November 21, 2016, a suicide bombing occurred killing 32 and injuring over 80 Shias at the Shia Baqir-ul Ulum Mosque, Kabul. *On August 1, 2017, in Jadwadia, Herat, Afghanistan a bombing occurred killing 33 deaths and leaving 66 people injured. *On August 25, 2017, in Imam Zaman Shia Mosque, Dasht-e Barchi, Kabul 35 were killed and 65 were injured by a suicide bombing. *On October 20, 2017, in Imam Zaman Shia Mosque, Khair Khana, Kabul 69 were killed and 77 were injured by a suicide bombing. *On December 28, 2017, in Shia Tabayan cultural center, Kabul 42 were killed and 69 were injured by a suicide bombing. *On March 21, 2018, in Kart-e Sakhi, Kabul, 33 were killed and 65 were injured by a suicide bombing. *On August 18, 2019, a bombing happened at a shia wedding killing 63 and 180 wounded. *On March 6, 2020, an IS gunmen killed 32 and wounded 81 in the Dasht-e-Barchi area during a ceremoney. *On May 12, 2020, Shia Hazara's were attacked by bombing Dasht-e-Barchi hospital killing 24 people and injuring an unknown number of people. *On October 25, 2020, a bombing occurred in the Shia Dasht-E-Brachi district killing 30 people and wounding over 70. *On May 8, 2021, an attack happened at the Dasht-e-Barachi district, near the Shia Sayeed-ul-Shuhada Girls School killing 50 people have wounding more than 100. *On October 8, 2021, Shia Muslims were attacked at Sayed Abad Mosque, Kunduz leading to 72 dead and 140 injured. *On October 15, 2021, a bombing occurred in the Bibi Fatima Mosque, Kandahar killing 63 Shias and 83 injured. *On November 13, 2021, a bombing occurred in a Shia dominated suburb leading 1 death and 4 injured. *On December 10, 2021, a bombing occurred in the Dasht-e-Barchi district in Kabul leading to two Shias dead and four injured. *On April 21, 2022, four bombings occurred all over Afghanistan, one of the bombings was claimed by IS. It was the bombing north of Mazar-e-Sharif, at a Shia mosque. 33 have died and 43 have been wounded. *On April 28, 2022, A bombing happened near the Shia shrine, Mazar-i-Sharif killing nine people and wounding 13. *On September 30, 2022, A suicide bombing in an educational facility, in "a Shiite area" of the Afghan capital of Kabul, detonating in front of hundreds of teenaged boys and girls killing 53 students, 110 injured. *On 13 October 2023, a suicide bombing happened in Imam Zaman Mosque, Pul-i-Khumri killing over seven people and wounding 17.

Iran

*On October 26, 2022, in the city of Shiraz at the Shah Cheragh Shrine, 15 Shia pilgrims were killed (two children within the fifteen killed). IS claimed responsibility.

Iraq

*On June 12, 2014, in Tikrit, IS forces targeted Shia and non-Muslims for killings. The death toll led to 1,095 to 1,700 deaths. This event has been labeled as the

and is considered the second deadliest act of terror. The number of deaths is only exceeded by the death toll of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. *On June 16, 2014, near the city of Kirkuk, 40 Shia Turkmen were killed by IS. *On August 13, 2015, a large bombing occurred in a food market in

Sadr City Sadr City (), formerly known as Al-Thawra () and Saddam City (), is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It was built in 1959 by Prime Minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim, Abdul Karim Qassim and named Al-Rafidain Distric ...

in a Shia neighborhood; this bombing led to 76 people being killed and 212 wounded. *On May 1, 2016, two suicide car bombs in the city of Samawa in a heavily Shia populated area went off, killing 33 Shias and wounding 75. *On May 2, 2016, IS conducted a bombing in Baghdad, killing 18 Shia pilgrims. *On July 3, 2016, IS conducted a car bombing on a Shia neighborhood near the end of Ramadan, wounding over 300; the death toll has been confirmed to be 281. *On July 7, 2016, the Shia shrine of Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi was attacked by a bombing, killing 292. *On July 24, 2016, IS conducted a suicide bombing in

Kadhimiya Kadhimiya (, ) or Kadhimayn () is a northern neighbourhood of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is about from the city's center, on the west bank of the Tigris. 'Kadhimiya' is also the name of one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad. As th ...

, killing 14 Shias and wounding 31 people. *On July 20, 2021, IS executed a bombing in a Shia neighborhood on the east side of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

; the bombing resulted in 30 people dead and wounding 50. *On October 27, 2021, in Al-Rashad, Diyala an IS gunman shot nine men in a majority Shia-populated village, leading to sectarian conflict in the area.

Kuwait

*On 26 June 2015, IS conducted a bombing on the al-Imam as-Sadiq Mosque during Friday prayer, killing over 25 worshippers and wounding 179.

Lebanon

*On June 24, 2014, a bombing occurred in a Shia suburb, wounding 12 people. *On November 12, 2015, A car bombing happened outside of a shia mosque in Beirut, killing over 37 and wounding 181. *In February 2022, An IS attack on multiple different Shia populated attacks was prevented by the ISF.

Oman

*On July 15, 2024, on the day of Ashura an attack happened at the Muscat Mosaque killing six shias, and injuring 30 to 50 others.

Pakistan

Islamic State has started to conduct operations in Pakistan. *On May 13, 2015, a group of IS-linked gunmen attacked a bus, killing 46 Shia Muslims. *On January 3, 2021, an IS fighter shot down 11 Shia coal miners. *On March 4, 2022, a bombing occurred in a Shia mosque in Peshawar during Friday prayer, killing 61 Shias and injuring 196.

Saudi Arabia

*On May 22, 2015, IS conducted a suicide bombing at the Shia Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh during Friday prayer, killing 21 and injuring 80.

Syria

*In February 2015, a bombing occurred near the shrine at a checkpoint, two suicide bombings killed four people and wounded 13. *On January 31, 2016, a car bomb and two suicide bombers attacked a district in Damascus near a Shia holy site 60 people died (including 25 Shia fighters) and wounded around 110 people. IS claimed the attack later on. *On February 21, 2016, a number of bombings occurred in front of the Syeda Zainab Shirne, leading to 198 people dying and 178 wounded, including children.

Yemen

*On March 20, 2015, multiple Shia mosques were bombed in multiple locations in

Sanaa Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

; the casualties were 142 dead and 351 wounded."Scores killed in suicide attacks on Yemen mosques"
Al Jazeera. 21 Mar 2015, Retrieved April 13, 2022

References

{{Genocide navbox 2014 establishments in Iraq 2017 disestablishments in Iraq 2010s in Islam

ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

Ethnic cleansing by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Forced migration in Asia Shia Islam in Iraq Shia Islam in Syria

Shias Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

Terrorism in Iraq Terrorism in Syria Terrorism in the Middle East People killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Genocide of indigenous peoples in Asia 21st-century mass murder in Asia Racism in Iraq Racism in Syria