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Iraqi parliamentarian: Military operations in some areas of the country aim to weaken Sunnis

October 2, 2014 at 11:33 am

The leader of the Sunni Alliance of Iraqi Forces, MP Talal Khudair Al-Zobaie, condemned on Wednesday what he called “the killings and displacement” that are accompanying the military operations in areas in the north and west of Iraq, saying that the aim of these operations is to “weaken the Sunnis”, Anadolu news agency reported.

In a statement to Anadolu, Al-Zobaie said that, “The goal of the military operations in Mosul and Fallujah, as well as in a number of other Iraqi cities, is not eliminating terrorism, but weakening the Sunnis in Iraq and making them even more of a minority.”

He noted that, “Thousands of Iraqis who live in Sunni areas that are exposed to shelling and terrorism have decided to leave Iraq and seek asylum in European countries,” adding that, “there is no hope for the stability of the security situation inside Iraq; a very dangerous indicator that will affect the rights of the Sunnis in the next phase.”

Al-Zobaie stressed that: “The military operations carried out by the army and security forces must distinguish between those who carry weapons and unarmed citizens.”

He also pointed out that: “There are lots of innocent people who have suffered from the random selling of the cities and provinces that have become an open battlefield, which requires attention and must be brought to an end.”

It was not possible to get an immediate comment from the Iraqi authorities on the MP’s remarks.

The US-led international coalition, which involves Western and Arab states, launched air strikes on Islamic State territories in both Syria and Iraq to reduce the organisation’s capacity and restrict its advance towards areas of the two neighbouring countries.

Since the beginning of this year, forces from the Iraqi army have been fighting fierce battles against armed groups, led by the Islamic State in most areas of the Anbar province with a Sunni majority. Those battles became even tougher about two months ago after the armed groups seized control of the western districts of the county, including ‘Ana, Rawa, Al-Qai’m and Al-Retba, in addition to the Anbar province’s eastern regions of Falluja and Al-Karma. The Islamic State also controls parts of the city of Ramadi.

The turmoil prevails in the areas of the north and west of Iraq after the Islamic State, along with other militias allied with it, took over large parts of the Ninoi province in the north on 10 June 2014, after the withdrawal of the Iraqi army from the area without any resistance, leaving large quantities of weapons and gear behind.

The same scenario happened in other provinces in the north of Iraq. A few months ago, this also happened in the cities of Anbar province in the west of the country.

The Iraqi forces, backed by armed allied groups as well as the Peshmerga forces, the Kurdish army of northern Iraq, have since managed to kick out the militants and regain control of a number of cities and towns after heavy fighting over the past few weeks.