Mosul Liberated with Help of Iraqi Popular Forces: Iran’s Shamkhani
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said the Iraqi government managed to liberate the northern city of Mosul from the clutches of Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists thanks to its popular forces.
“The Iraqi nation (by liberating Mosul) proved that security cannot be purchased…,” Shamkhani told reporters on Sunday.
He added that the recent victory was achieved after the Iraqi people and government, instead of putting their trust in foreign powers, relied on the power of the popular forces under the guidance of the country’s Marja’s (religious leadership).
"Today, thanks to its popular mobilization units, Iraq has a firm defense organization against the current and (any potential) future threats,” he said.
Daesh militants made swift advances in northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing swaths of northern Syria.
However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after Ayatollah Sistani issued the fatwa calling for the fight against the militants, blunted the edge of Daesh offensive and forced the terrorist group to withdraw from much of the areas it had occupied.
Iraqi military forces on Thursday captured the Mosul mosque at the heart of the northern city, which Daesh had declared its de facto capital.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the liberation of the site of the symbolic al-Nuri Mosque in Old Mosul as “the declaration of the end of the statelet of Daesh.”
Iraqi authorities expect the long battle for Mosul to end in coming days as remaining Daesh militants are bottled up in just a handful of neighborhoods of the Old City.
Daesh stronghold in Syria’s Raqqa is also close to falling.
