Salwan Momika, known for public Quran burnings, killed in shooting during live broadcast

SÖDERTÄLJE, Sweden — Salwan Momika (38), notorious for his many public burnings of the Quran, was was shot dead last night in an apartment in Södertälje, a Swedish city just outside Stockholm, during a live broadcast on TikTok, reported Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

The Swedish police have arrested five people in connection with the investigation into the murder.

Salwan Momika in Iraq

Momimka, a Syriac originally from Baghdede (Qaraqosh / Hamdaniyah) in Iraq, is known for burning Qurans and has been accused by the Swedish judiciary of inciting hatred.

During the 2006–2008 civil war, a period marked by the persecution of Christians by the Islamic State (ISIS), Momika serving as a security guard in Mosul. According to Iraqi government reports, he fled Mosul in 2012 following a court ruling that found him responsible for a wrongful death in a car accident, sentencing him to three years in prison.

Following ISIS’s takeover of Mosul in June 2014, Momika joined the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). He was featured in videos as a member of the Christian “Spirit of God Jesus Son of Mary Battalions”. In these videos, he was seen holding weapons and declaring allegiance to the Imam Ali Brigades, a faction connected to the unit and the armed wing of the Islamic Movement of Iraq. The Iran-linked Imam Ali Battalions (Kata’ib al-Imam Ali) have faced allegations of war crimes and sectarian violence.

Babylon Movement

That same year, Momika founded the “Syriac Democratic Union” and the “Falcons of the Syriac Forces,” a militia associated with the Babylon Brigade, the military arm of the Babylon Movement. By 2017, an internal dispute with Rayan al-Kildani, another leader within the Babylon Movement, resulted in Momika losing influence and ultimately leaving the country.

Ostensibly a Chaldean Catholic political movement, in truth, the Babylon Movement is a fringe faction that chiefly represents the personal interests of Rayan al-Kildani instead of the Christian population. Backed by Iran, the group has strong connections to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Badr Organization. Its military wing, the Babylon Brigades (also called Brigade 50), was created by the Imam Ali Battalions, which is under Iranian control. Despite advertising itself as a Chaldean Catholic and Christian unit, the organization consists mainly of Shia Arab and Shabak troops.

For the article in Arabic see here