Shiite militia groups in Iraq bolster government effort against Islamic State

Mourners in Tehran carry the flag-draped coffin of Ali Yazdani, a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, whom the Guard says was killed in a U.S. drone strike near the Iraqi city of Tikrit.  (Mohammad Reza Jofar / Associated Press)

Military uniforms are displayed at a factory on March 18, in Najaf, Iraq. The factory, which employees some 1,700 workers, produces fatigues and flak jackets for Popular Mobilization fighters.  (Haidar Hamdani / AFP/Getty Images)

A fighter from Saraya al-Salam, a milia formed by Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, sits in the back of a vehicle as he leaves the Shiite holy city of Najaf with Iraqi government forces.  (Haidar Hamdani / AFP/Getty Images)

Fighters from the Imam Ali Brigades review their battle plan at the front line with the Islamic State group in Tikrit, Iraq.   (Khalid Mohammed / Associated Press)

Iraqi fighters from the Popular Mobilization units carry the coffin of Mostafa Hassan Shakir, a student from the University of Kufa who died in fighting against the Islamic State group in Tikrit, Iraq.  (Haidar Hamdani / AFP/Getty Images)

Iraqis stand at the site of a car bombing in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood. The blast killed eight people and wounded more than 20, Iraqi security and medical officials said.   (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/ AFP/Getty Images)