Kurdish president criticises military intervention in western Iraq

The president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region has criticised the Iraqi government’s military intervention in Anbar province, saying that it will complicate the situation further. Massoud Barzani noted that the situation in Anbar is deteriorating and insisted that Iraq’s central government must take the demands of the people seriously and respect their will. The leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party added that his country’s war against terrorism should not become a sectarian war between Shiites and Sunnis.

Fighting between Anbar clans and militants linked to Al-Qaeda from the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” is continuing for the third week in Fallujah. The Iraqi army, meanwhile, continues to besiege both Fallujah and Ramadi, displacing residents who have condemned what they describe as “indiscriminate” mortar fire against them. Media reports claim that at least 60 people were killed over the past two weeks; 43 in Ramadi and 17 in Fallujah.

According to the United Nations the humanitarian situation is worsening as battles expand in the west of Iraq, displacing nearly 13,000 of Anbar’s residents, most of whom have fled to neighbouring provinces.

Source: Al Resalah