ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Tribal and local forces should take the lead in evicting Islamic State (ISIS) militants from Mosul, an MP from Iraq’s Nineveh province said, after Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani said the Peshmerga should not be expected to do the job.
“The people of Mosul should form a popular mobilization force in order to regain control of their city and expel ISIS militants," MP Sajida Mohammed said.
Her comments came after Barzani said that Peshmerga forces will not singlehandedly liberate Mosul.
In an interview with al-Arabiya TV, Barzani said that to recapture Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, “the Peshmerga would only play a supporting role, because the Kurdistan Region doesn’t want the start of a Kurdish-Arab war.”
"Barzani’s statement was expected and it is very logical,” Mohammed said.
“The tribes and former army and police personnel should get involved in the liberation of Nineveh,” she said, adding that Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi’s government should help equip forces being trained at special camps for the liberation of Mosul, which was captured by ISIS in June.
The government “should equip those camps with weapons and use (military) advisors to train the volunteers, while the international coalition should provide necessary air cover," Muhammed said.
“We demanded and continue to demand the federal government to send weapons to the military camps and train volunteers, and the Kurdistan Regional Government should also take part in facilitating the entry of volunteers to the camps and establish more (training) camps on the outskirts of Erbil," she added.
The MP warned that Nineveh leaders could ask the international community, including neighboring countries, to come to assist Nineveh if Baghdad continues to drag its feet.
"If al-Abadi’s government does not respond to our demands, we will resort to the international coalition and possibly the neighboring countries for arming, equipping and preparing the camps," she warned.
Sunni leaders have complained that Baghdad has been reluctant to provide them with weapons to confront ISIS.
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