Shia militias answer the call to fight Islamic State in Iraq

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• GWEN IFILL:

  We turn now to Iraq, and the war against the Islamic State group, where Iraqi Shia militia, many backed by Iran, are often the ones leading the fight.

  That activity was on display most recently in Tikrit, where the Shia were accused of looting and atrocities after retaking the Sunni Muslim city.

  These militia have a long, bloody history with American forces, too.

  The top American commander for the region spoke recently at a Senate hearing.

• GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, Commander, U.S. Central Command:

  I would like just to highlight, sir, that three tours in Iraq commanding troops who were brutalized by some of these Shia militias, I will not and I hope we never coordinate or cooperate with the Shia militias.

• GWEN IFILL:

  In the final report in her series from Iraq, NewsHour special correspondent Jane Arraf traveled south of Baghdad, where she was granted special access to the Shia militia group and its training operation.

• JANE ARRAF, Special Correspondent:

  These men have answered a call by Iraq's most revered Shia religious leader to fight the Islamic State group.

  But this brigade's inspiration is Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Their month-long training starts with the basics. "This is an automatic Kalashnikov," instructor Ali Hussein tells them. "It's a Russian-made rifle with the best mechanism in the world."

  When the I.S. group, known here as Da'esh, took over Mosul last year, entire divisions of the Iraqi army collapsed. The Iraqi government turned to Iran and Iraqi citizens for help. There are at least four other training centers like this in Nasiriyah. In this one alone, they have trained 2,000 fighters. Most of them are young men, but the only real requirement is a willingness to fight.

  More than 100,000 men joined up after the Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa, calling on those who could to join the fight. Nasiriyah, 200 miles south of Baghdad, has a long history of fighting. At 17, Ali Jabber Hussein is the youngest recruit here. His father was wounded fighting against Saddam Hussein's forces. Two of his uncles were killed.

• ALI JABBER HUSSEIN, Volunteer (through interpreter):

  Our father told us to volunteer. He said, why are you sitting here with me? You have to go and defend your country.

• JANE ARRAF:

  The south of Iraq has particularly close ties with neighboring Iran. Many fighters fled here in the 1990s after the U.S. urged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam Hussein, and then stood by when his regime killed thousands.

  The chaos after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 only deepened the conviction among many here that the United States was trying to destroy Iraq. Like many Iraqis, this commander is convinced the U.S. arms the Islamic State group.

• MAJ. JAMEEL HAMEED KHATIM, Popular Mobilization Forces (through interpreter):

  The expertise is British, the intelligence is Jewish, and the weapons are American. The Islamic State attacks are part of a British plan.

• JANE ARRAF:

  Some of these men, like Ali Nasser, fought in Syria with the Hezbollah brigades, a group backed by Iran. They battled anti-government fighters alongside Syrian forces. When the I.S. group crossed into Iraq, the fighters came back here.

• ALI NASSER FALIH HASSAN, Volunteer (through interpreter):

  The fighting here is much more intense. We haven't seen anything like this.

• JANE ARRAF:

  The commanders try to prepare them for the skills they believe they will need in their fight to the north, including kicking down doors and throwing grenades. They say reports of the Shia fighters destroying and looting houses are lies.

• MAJ. JAMEEL HAMEED KHATIM (through interpreter):

  The media says the popular mobilization destroyed that house or set others on fire. This is impossible. There's nothing like that. But, of course, if there is gunfire coming from a house, of course we will fire on it.

• JANE ARRAF:

  The brigade has lost seven fighters. This commander says they included Ahmed al Mussawi, 22 years-old when he was killed north of Baghdad.

• MAN (through interpreter):

  There were more than 250 Da'esh fighters. The army unit that we were with started to clear the area, fighting from 4:00 in the morning.

• JANE ARRAF:

  Ahmed's father has two other older sons still fighting. He considers the death of his youngest son an honor.

• SAYID ABDUL NABI YASSER AL MUSSAWI (through interpreter):

  He loved the idea of jihad. When he first went, they wouldn't take him because they said he was too young. And then he went to Sayid Hamza's 15th Shaban Brigades and said, I want to join you. They say I'm young, but I want to go however I can.

  So they agreed, and he stayed with them until he was martyred.

• JANE ARRAF:

  Nasiriyah is in the middle of Iraq's huge oil fields. The people here are among the poorest in the country. Just north of the city, the walls are dotted with photos of those killed in fighting. They were poor when they joined. When they died, many left their families even poorer.

  Shukria found out Hussein, her husband of 30 years, had been killed fighting when someone else answered his phone.

• SHUKRIA RATHIA MUHSIN, Widow (through interpreter):

  He said, he's a sacrifice. He sacrificed himself for you.

  We didn't believe it. I still can't believe it.

• JANE ARRAF:

  The only money they have ever received from the government or the Popular Mobilization Forces was to bury him.

  The Iraqi government says it will integrate the volunteers into official security forces, but, for now, it says it doesn't have the funds. Those killed in battle are buried at the Najaf cemetery. It's the biggest cemetery in the world. An estimated 4,000 Shia fighters have been buried in the cemetery since the battle against I.S. began. This corner has been dedicated to some of the volunteers whose families can't pay for burials.

  Haj Abbas, an undertaker, says they died defending other Shias and Iraq.

• HAJ ABBAS HAJ KHUTHAIR ALLAWI ABU SAIBI, Undertaker (through interpreter):

  Some were killed in Jurf al Sakhar. Some of them were killed by bombs in the street. And others were fighters in Tikrit, and some of them were fighting in Ramadi. Every day, there are martyrs, at least 10, 15, 20, 30, because, when they enter the homes, sadly, the houses detonated around them.

• JANE ARRAF:

  Some of the men had decades of experience fighting. But many others were just beginning their lives.

  "They are fighting for all of us," says Haj Abbas. "They leave everything behind to defend us."

  I'm Jane Arraf for PBS NewsHour in Najaf, Iraq.

• GWEN IFILL:

  And a late word tonight on Iraq.

  There are reports from the wire services that President Obama will nominate Marine General Joseph Dunford Jr. to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He currently serves as the commandant of the Marine Corps.