Analysis | The ‘martyr’ sniper who became legend after killing 384 Islamic State fighters
Ali Jayad al-Salhi took pride in his skill. He told of how a flying bird gave away the location of an IS sniper atop a date palm. He often told of a duel with a female IS sniper, whom he killed after he tricked her into believing he was dead
He was then vaulted into legend, virtually becoming a new saint for the Shiite community.
Posters of al-Salhi, also known as “Hawk Eye” and Abu Tahsin, adorn storefronts, homes and car windows in his home city of Basra and other Shiite areas. One bakery even sells cakes with his face. Poems praise his valour and piety.
His rifle, with which he is said to have killed nearly 400 IS militants, is now in a museum in the holiest Shiite city, Karbala.
The fervour surrounding him points to the near messianic mystique that has grown up around Iraq’s Shiite militias in tandem with their increasing political and military might after they helped defeat Islamic State.
Known as the “Popular Mobilisation Forces” or “Hashed” in Arabic, the militias – many of them backed by Iran – have emerged from the war with an image among Iraq’s Shiite majority as virtually a holy force.