Iraqi Shi'ite fighters in Syria head home to fight ISIL

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* Redeployment could have implications for Syria fighting * Resident say clashes calmed in some areas of Damascus * Iraqi fighters have helped Assad turn tide of war BEIRUT/BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim militias fighting in Syria have started returning home to combat a lightning advance by Sunni insurgents in their own country, an exodus that could affect the balance of power in Syria. President Bashar al-Assad has relied heavily on Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from Iraq and Leba**n to help turn the tide against overwhelmingly Sunni rebels. One of those militias, Iraq's Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-backed group which fought U.S. troops during the 2003-2011 occupation, confirmed on Wednesday that it was pulling some of its fighters out of Syria. Spokesman Ahmed al-Kinani said the group was responding to a call from Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric to protect Iraq from Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who seized Iraq's biggest **rthern city last week.

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