Shiite militiamen Beat and Kill Improperly Dressed Women in Basra
October 5, 2007 6:21 am Basra, Mahdi Army, IraqBASRA, Iraq | Women in Basra have become the targets of a violent campaign by religious extremists, who leave more than 15 female bodies scattered around the city each month, police officers say.
Maj. Gen. Abdel Jalil Khalaf, commander of Basra’s police, said Thursday that self-styled enforcers of religious law threatened, beat and shot women who they thought weren’t sufficiently Muslim….Often, he said, the “crime” is no more than wearing Western clothes or not wearing a head scarf….
The vigilantes patrol the streets of Basra on motorbikes or in cars with dark-tinted windows and no license plates. They accost women who are not wearing the traditional robe and head scarf known as hijab. Religious extremists in the city also have been known to attack men for clothes or haircuts deemed too Western.Like all of southern Iraq, Basra is populated mostly by Shiite Muslims, so sectarian violence is not a major problem, but security has deteriorated as Shiite militias fight each other for power. British troops in the area pulled out last month.