Via AFP:

As Iraq suffers its worst violence in years, gangs claiming ties to powerful militias have been commandeering empty homes in Baghdad with little official sanction, victims and rights groups say.

Militia leaders have disavowed the practice and insist they are not behind it, while those affected — principally minority Christians — say the country’s courts have done little to protect their property.

“We have received dozens of such cases,” William Warda, head of the Baghdad-based Hammurabi Human Rights Organisation, told AFP.

“Most of them are afraid of submitting complaints to the government, because they do not believe they can protect themselves if they file a lawsuit — they are fearful of being kidnapped.”

Though kidnapping for political or financial motive is not as widespread as it was during the worst of Iraq’s sectarian war in 2006 and 2007, it remains a persistent fear, particularly among minority communities.

Christian families have been disproportionately affected by the home seizures, officials say, for reasons to do with tribal politics and because of the high number who have fled.

Many empty homes that have been taken over were left by Christians who took flight from Iraq, fearful of the near-daily attacks that plague Baghdad and major cities.

“A gang claiming to be allied to Sadr took over my house in Karrada, and my friends tried to take it back, but they have failed so far,” said one victim who gave only her first name, Ahlam.

She was referring to powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia once numbered in the tens of thousands but has in recent years been dormant.