Iraqi Shiite men parade their weapons in the shrine city of Karbala, in central Iraq, on June 25, 2014 after they volunteered to protect the Shiite holy sites in central and south Iraq in case of an attack by Sunni militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said that Sunni jihadists who have overrun swathes of territory must be expelled from the country before it is too late. AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED SAWAF