ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—A lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament has revealed to Rudaw details of ongoing preparations for a military offensive against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Mosul, saying that a force of 40,000 strong will be needed. Iraqi Kurdish MP Shakhawan Abdullah, who is also a member of the parliamentary security committee, said that the Peshmerga forces will participate in the offensive in a limited role. It will be mainly done by the Iraqi army, Sunni Hashd al-Watani and possibly Shiite militia. Abdullah echoed the belief of some experts that any Shiite participation as militia groups will make the offensive and liberation of Mosul complicated. “Residents of Mosul worry about participation of Hashd-al Shaabi (Shiite militia), which are planned to be excluded from the operation, yet Abadi’s speech on the matter worried them.” Abdullah told Rudaw. He referred to a recent speech by Iraqi PM Haider Abadi who said the Shiite militia will take part in driving ISIS out of Mosul. “The battle of Mosul will not succeed without reaching a consensus among all parties and sects in Iraq,” Abdullah said. The Iraqi government had allocated part of this year’s budget to recruit 20,000 tribal forces most of which, according to Abdullah has gone to recruiting Shiite militia.“In short, Abadi fears arming the Sunnis,” Brigadier Firas, spokesman to the Mosul operations command told Rudaw that a big number of fighters also from local Sunni tribes have been trained for Mosul. “Men from tribes of Sabawi, Leheb, and Jibour have applied and been trained to take their city back from Daesh [ISIS] terrorists.” Ismat Rajab, a Kurdish official in charge of Mosul affairs believes that the main task falls on the Mosul population and their participation is more essential. “Participation of Mosul residents and Arab tribes are very important. The Americans decided to arm 15,000 men from local Arab tribes and Hashd al-Watani (a Sunni armed group) under the leadership of Atheel al-Nujaifi,” said Rajab. “The battle will not be succeeding without Arab Sunni fighters participating in it.” The local tribes, he believes, have a great role in the coming fight. “Even those (Sunni tribes) who were forced to pledge allegiance to Daesh are now tired of their rule and pissed off,” said Rajab.
