Iraq parliament questioning army commanders over Mosul fall

BAGHDAD - Several army commanders appear in the Iraqi parliament today to answer for the fall of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, to the Islamic State (ISIS) last summer.

“Today, the special parliamentary committee conducts its first session on the fall of Mosul and a number of commanders and high-ranking officers will be questioned,” Shakhawan Abdullah, head of the parliamentary security and defense committee, told Rudaw.

Lieutenant General Abud Qanbar, who served in Mosul during the ISIS invasion, is among those appearing.  Former deputy chief of the armed forces Lieutenant General Muhsin al-Kaabi, the commander of the federal police and 36 others will also appear before the committee.

The Iraqi government under Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is seeking to find answers for the collapse of the army and its more than 30,000 soldiers in Mosul last June, when ISIS attacked and captured most of Iraq’s Sunni heartland in a matter of days.

Abdullah said that the six-member committee will compile a report on the commanders’ testimonies for the higher authorities who will decide on the matter.

He said that the committee and government are seeking to find out “those negligent in their duties.”