Around 500 Iraqi officers dismissed for abandoning duty in Anbar

As many as 500 Iraqi officers and members of the Anbar local police force were dismissed on Monday after “they abandoned their duty” during the Islamic State militants’ attack against the city in June last year, senior Iraqi police officer said.

General Kazim Fahdawi, the Anbar province’s police chief, told Anadolu news agency on Monday that: “The Iraqi Interior Ministry dismissed 500 officers and members of the local police after they abandoned their duties in al-Baghdadi city, 90 km west of Ramadi”.

Fahdawi added: “Some of the dismissed were stationed in Baghdadi, Haditha and Berwanah cities and the other part was stationed in the capital Baghdad.” He noted: “Anbar elders are mediating with the Ministry of Interior to return the dismissed officers to the service.”

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces are reported to have retaken control on Monday evening of the government compound south of Tikrit, Salahuddin province, according to a military official.

The Iraqi army colonel who preferred anonymity told an Anadolu Agency reporter that elements of the Islamic State fled towards the presidential palaces near the government compound.

He added: “The Iraqi flag was raised above the Salahuddin province buildings, Sunni Endowment compound and the Directorate of Education, after expelling IS elements.”

Iraqi forces, militias loyal to them and the Kurdish Peshmerga are fighting to regain control over areas controlled by the Islamic State in the north and west of the country.