The war (against terrorists) will continue until the full liberation of the Iraqi soil, Iraqi Spokesman for the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Brigadier General Qassim Atta told the Tasnim News Agency on Sunday.
Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city fell to the terrorists from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after Iraqi soldiers and police forces fled en masse on June 10. This, led to the capture of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad.
“With the help of God, we will begin a large-scale clean-up operation in Mosul in a few days,” Brigadier General Qassim Atta stated.
Over the past few days, Iraqi military with the cooperation of volunteer forces, made great gains in the cities of Tal Afar, Hawijah, and Samara, the Iraqi commander said, adding that they managed to repel the attacks of the ISIL terrorist group and force them to retreat to Mosul.
He also called the developments in Mosul a conspiracy by some Iraqi military commanders and said, “What happened in Mosul was a coup by some treacherous and indolent commanders.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Qassim Atta had announced the names of 59 officers who will be brought before court for fleeing their posts as insurgents seized Mosul.
Senior officers, including Lieutenant General Mehdi Sabah Ghawari, the top commander for Nineveh province where ISIL militants have gained ground, were fired because they "failed to fulfill their professional and military duties," according to a government statement read out on state television.
One of the commanders, Hidayat Abdulraheem, had fled a battle and would be referred to the military court to be tried in absentia, it said.