Babil orders demolition of convicted militants’ homes

Iraqi provincial council also orders the families of militants to be expelled from the area

Asuicide bomber targeted a police checkpoint in a Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad yesterday, killing at least six people. South of the Iraqi capital, a provincial council approved a decision allowing authorities to demolish homes of convicted militants and banish their families from the province.

The Baghdad attacker, who was on foot, blew up his explosives-laden vest at a police checkpoint in the northern neighbourhood of Shula, a police officer said.

Three policemen and three civilians were killed and at least 15 people were wounded in the explosion, the officer added. A medical official confirmed casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of Daesh. The militant group has claimed previous such attacks against security forces and public places mainly in Shiite-dominated areas.

Meanwhile, the decision by the Babil Provincial Council reflects attempts by local authorities to try — independently of the central government in Baghdad — to rein in militant attacks in municipalities and provinces across the country battered by years of war.

Hassan Fadaam, a Babil Provincial Council member, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the council decision was approved on Tuesday in the provincial capital of Hillah, 95km south of Baghdad.

It’s the first such decision in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussain. Earlier, some pro-government Sunni tribes had demolished houses of those they accused of cooperating with Daesh after the militants’ 2014 blitz captured large swathes of land in the west and north.

The decision will only apply to convicted militants who have exhausted all possibilities of appealing their convictions.

A court order against the militant’s family for failing to inform authorities about his activity also must precede the demolition of a house, Fadaam said. He did not clarify where a family of an offender would go to, once banished from the province.

The decision also calls on Baghdad to hand over militants who are on death row to provincial authorities. A convict would then be executed in public in the province where he committed the crime, Fadaam added.

“We will consider any means that could help deter terrorism and this is one of them,” he said. “We have grown frustrated with the central government’s efforts to maintain security and execute convicted militants. Nothing is deterring the terrorists who realise once they are in prison, they only receive good treatment.”