ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s defense minister sacked the commander and the director of intelligence of Taji military camp over negligence and corruption, Iraqi state media reported early Sunday.
The decision came after the ministry conducted inspection tours to military sites, according to the statement of the Iraqi defense ministry published by Iraqi News Agency (INA).
The military base is located north of Baghdad and was handed over to the Iraqi army after US troops withdrew in 2020.
“When we visited al-Taji site, we found out clear dereliction in it,” Minister of Defense Thabet Muhammad al-Abbasi. “Accordingly, we directed the dismissal of the site commander from his position and the site intelligence director and their referral for investigation,” he added.
Iraq is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International, which ranked it 157 out of 180 nations in 2022.
On April 12, the former head of the Sunni Endowment Council was sentenced to four years imprisonment as a part of a corruption case related to buying a hotel in Erbil, according to Iraq’s Integrity Council.
The government has vowed to root out the corruption that is endemic in Iraq’s institutions and, placing the country among the most corrupt in the world.
In March, a court in Baghdad issued arrest warrants for four officials from former prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s team on corruption charges in connection with an investigation into the looting of public funds.
A Baghdad court issued an arrest and search warrant to a former prime minister’s political advisor on the charge of refusing to “submit financial disclosure without a legitimate excuse”, according to a statement from Iraq’s Integrity Council.
An investigation by the finance ministry in October concluded that $2.5 billion in tax funds were stolen from the General Commission of Taxes’ account at Baghdad's Rafidain Bank between September 2021 and August 2022.
“We will not leave out anyone or any name or any party involved, regardless of who they are, and the parties involved will be announced after completing the investigation.”, Prime Minister Mohamed Shia’ al-Sudani said in October after recovering hundreds of millions of stolen money.
