ERBIL, Kurdistan Region ─ Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday ordered a court-martial to investigate Iraqi military officials who are suspected of abandoning their positions when ISIS seized Ramadi.
Abadi announced in a statement that Iraqi officials who fled their posts during the ISIS attack will be brought to justice under the rule of law.
Abadi’s decision comes amind his extensive reform campaign to reshuffle the government and combat corruption and mismanagement in the country.
In mid-May, jihadists took advantage of a sandstorm to capture Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province. The jihadists were met with little resistance from Iraqi forces and took the city quickly in what is considered the biggest victory in 2015 for the extremists.
ISIS seized a large cache of ammunition and weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns supplied by the United States and Russia.
More than 85 percent of Anbar province, Iraq’s second largest province, is held by ISIS.
Sunni-majority Fallujah, 69 kilometers west of Baghdad, has been under ISIS control since last summer. The Iraqi Army has been continuously shelling the city to weaken ISIS.
A day after the fall of Ramadi, Abadi ordered Iraqi forces not to abandon their positions across the Anbar province. There were fears the extremists could capture the entire Sunni province, which saw intense fighting after the 2003 US-led invasion of the country to topple dictator Saddam Hussein.
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