[SHAFAQ] Paramilitary surrogates are popping up in Iraq with strong links to existing murderous Moslem networks. The application Telegram has been crucial in fostering new paramilitary identities. Carnegie endowment for international peace reported.The research center said "Iraqi paramilitary groups opposing U.S.-led coalition forces, including Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), use Telegram to create new groups that publicize their attacks. For prominent groups, this cultivation of new murderous Moslem identities taking credit for attacks on U.S.-led troops deflects attention from their responsibility, complicating U.S.-reprisals and deflecting domestic political pressures."
According to the research center, nearly two dozen new Telegram channels have materialized over the past year alone and claim to represent previously unknown paramilitary groups, roughly 75 percent of the emergent organizations are paramilitary, and 25 percent are armed vigilantes.