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The men push forward, smartphones flying back and forth as they enlist whoever is closest to take their photo with the swarthy figure at the front of the crowd.

When it's the next man's turn, he approaches with reverence, planting a kiss on the cheek or forehead of the muscle-bound man with the shaved head and jet-black bushy beard. An awkward pose, a quick snap, and it's on to the next acolyte, already in place.

Who is worthy of such attention? A movie star? A chart-topping singer? Nope.

He's Iraq's most famous Shiite militiaman, a fierce warrior whose nom de guerre Abu Azrael is an archangel of death in Islam. But the 37-year-old has another nickname: the "Iraqi Rambo."

He is the scourge of Islamic State militants, who last year rampaged across large parts of Iraq and Syria. He taunts and mocks the Sunni extremists on social media, saying he has dispatched them in droves with an arsenal that would satisfy any video-game aficionado: a scoped rifle, hand grenades and, when things get dicey, an ax or sword.

His Facebook pages have garnered well over 300,000 "likes," and his YouTube videos rack up hundreds of thousands and occasionally millions of views. (His presence at a recent funeral for a high-ranking militia leader almost derailed the somber proceedings.)

Convalescing in Baghdad after a battlefield injury sustained during the government's latest offensive on the city of Tikrit "a shell blast threw me off the armored carrier I was on," he explains as he nonchalantly gestures to the cast on his right arm Abu Azrael consents to a sit-down interview.

It's a tightly choreographed affair, monitored by a media team from his militia, the Imam Ali Brigades, that would make any Hollywood PR firm proud.

"When the Iraqi people came under attack, I decided to leave my work and become a warrior to defend them," he begins, describing himself as a "simple man who wanted to fight the evil of Daesh," the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. And though those on the receiving end of his lethal blows (not to mention taunts) are Sunnis, he rejects accusations that he's encouraging sectarianism.

Like your average action hero, his identity is shrouded in mystery. He acknowledges little more than being a "gentle father" to four daughters and a son.

Original post:
Iraq's Rambo is the scourge of Islamic State militants