BAGHDAD — Following the recent terrorist attacks in the predominately Shiite province of Najaf, Governor of Najaf Luay al-Yassiri and the deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, announced Jan. 15 the formation of two regiments of the PMU to control the desert of Najaf and protect the holy city of Najaf from Islamic State (IS) terrorists. Yassiri also said the province is to build a 50-kilometer (31-mile) tunnel on the western side of the city to protect it from terrorists.

After its major losses in Mosul, IS has been seeking to move its operations to the predominantly Shiite center and southern Iraq. To IS, Shiites are its bitter enemy. On Jan. 1, IS carried out an attack in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, which is home to many Shiite authorities. The militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, stressing that it was carried out by five suicide bombers. On Jan. 8, the security apparatus seized a car bomb in the Shiite-majority governorate of Wasit.

In another attempt on Jan. 2, the PMU clashed with IS fighters in the area of the Nukhayb desert, adjacent to the Shiite city of Karbala, after militants had tried to infiltrate the city and Najaf. This prompted Karbala Governor Akil al-Turaihi to start looking for military options to strengthen the security situation.

IS attacks in the Shiite south are seen as a qualitative development in the organization’s activity, as these areas have been witnessing relative calm in the past few years. Today, IS is trying to establish itself by attempting to breach security in the center and the south, away from its strongholds in the north and the west of the country.