The Iraqi Freedom Congress, a group linked to the Worker-communist Party of Iraq, reports that some districts of Baghdad are organising neighbourhood self-defence against the sectarian militias.

“In Zafaranyia and Husseinya, Mahmoodya, the Iraqi Freedom Congress has initiated a defence committee for the people’s security... In Basra, thousands of IFC leaflets have been distributed. They have been very well received and, in the meetings, people have begun to chant: ‘Neither Shia, nor Sunni: we believe in humanity!’...

“Rasheed Ismail, IFC leader in Zafaranyia, has announced the creation of a security force formed by the inhabitants of this neighbourhood”.