Shiite militias expand influence, redraw map in central Iraq

Shi’ite groups now decide who can stay in a community and who should leave; whose houses should be destroyed and whose can stand.

In one case, a powerful Shi’ite paramilitary organization has started redrawing the geography of central Iraq, building a road between Shi’ite parts of Diyala province and Samarra, a Sunni city that is home to a Shi’ite shrine.

“The ideas of what Shi’itestan’s limits are is changing,” said Ali Allawi a historian and former Iraqi minister.

“Some of these towns and villages, which were neutral or partial to ISIS, have been retaken. I don’t think the people living there will go back. We are talking about depopulated areas that may be resettled by different groups.”