Iraq to bolster army after getting rid of Daesh

Iraqi Defence Minister Irfan Al-Hayali said yesterday that the Iraqi army would be re-equipped and retrained after it eliminates Daesh from its soil, Egyptian news site Masr Alarabia reported.

Al-Hayali made his remarks during a press conference held jointly with Interior Minister Qasim Al-Araji and the leader of the Sadrist movement, firebrand Shia cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, in the city of Najaf in the south of the country.

The Iraqi army, which depends mainly on American weapons, suffered several setbacks after Daesh invaded Ninawa, Salahuddin, Anbar and parts of Diyala and Babil provinces in the summer of 2014 and seized a huge amount of American arms and military equipment.

Read: Daesh overruns highway between Iraq, Jordan

Meanwhile, Al-Hayali said that Al-Sadr had announced his support for the Iraqi armed forces, noting that Al-Sadr called for equality among all the different sects and for them to be represented in the army.

During a meeting with Al-Sadr, Al-Araji said he suggested that it would be necessary to differentiate between civilians who were exposed to oppression and those who helped Daesh, noting that everything would be sorted out in the courts.

Iraq’s courts are notorious for issuing politicised and sectarian verdicts against Sunni Arabs, even accepting evidence obtained under duress and torture.

Read: Iraq struggling to fight Daesh in vast Anbar deserts

Al-Sadr himself said that several issues were discussed in the meeting, including the rehabilitation of the army and letting the defence and interior ministries take responsibility for serving the Iraqi people and protecting them after the recapture of Mosul from Daesh.