Albu Nimr or al-Bu Nimr () is a

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 ...

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

tribe (عشيرة ashirah) of some 500,000 people living in

Ramadi Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...

Al Anbar Governorate Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

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 ...

. It is part of the larger Dulaim tribe. In the years after 2007, Albu Nimr was part of the Sahwa militia that fought

al-Qaeda in Iraq Al-Qaeda in Iraq (; AQI), was a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It was founded on 17 October 2004, and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until its disbandment on 15 October 2006 after he was killed in a targ ...

. In 2014, it was one of the Sunni Arab tribes that fiercely opposed 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 ...

Mass killings of members of Albu Nimr

ISIL declared that Sunni Muslims who fight against their

Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

were apostates from Islam who were to be executed. At the end of October 2014, there were reports that fighters of the Islamic State massacred Albu Nimr tribesmen. The bodies of some 200 of them were found in a ditch used as a mass grave near

Hīt Hit or Heet (, ''Hīt'') is a city in Al Anbar Governorate of Iraq. Situated on the banks of the Euphrates River, it lies northwest of Ramadi, the provincial capital. The city is administrative capital for Hit District. A major city in the cent ...

, while at least 48 and possible more than 60 tribesmen were publicly executed inside the city. The Human Rights Ministry of Iraq said at the beginning of November 2014 that the number of Albu Nimr tribe members killed was 322.

Hīt city

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

reported on November 10, 2014, that according to tribal sources the Islamic State had carried out another mass killing of over 70 members of Albu Nimr tribesmen near Hīt. Another 300 were missing. Tribal leaders said that more than 630 members of the Albu Nimr tribe were killed in the prior two weeks. Another 16 members of the Albu Nimr tribe were executed by the Islamic State in Tharthar area, north of

, according to reports on November 13, 2014. On December 17, 2014, it was reported by Turkish media, that the Islamic State had executed at least 150 women from the Albu Nimr tribe in Falluja for refusing to marry militants of the Islamic State. Some of the women were reported to be pregnant. Seventy Albu Nimr members were shot dead by the Islamic State in the village of Khanizir, in Anbar Governorate, on the night of October 4, 2015. According to tribesman Sheikh Naeem al-Gaoud, they were killed "because they had relatives serving in the Iraqi security forces". He also stated that "the men targeted on Sunday had fled to Khanizir with their families from the homes in the al-Furat district of Ramadi after IS captured Anbar's provincial capital last May".BBC: Islamic State 'executes 70 Sunni tribesmen in Iraq'
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References

{{Arab tribes in Iraq Tribes of Iraq

Mass killings of members of Albu Nimr

Hīt city

See also

References