Iraq to build new army bases, train volunteers for Mosul operation

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Iraqi government has agreed to establish three army bases to train and arm new volunteers for the recapture of Mosul, said a group of parliamentarians.

“We asked the prime minister to let us participate in the liberation of Mosul by telling us of the plans,” said Iraqi MP Sajida Muhammad Younis who met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Younis, an MP from Mosul, said that her colleagues and members of the provincial council have asked the prime minister that they want to be part of any plans for the future of Mosul.

Younis said that PM Abadi has agreed to the opening of three military bases in Makhmour, Bashik and Rabia to train and arm around 8,000 local volunteers and former soldiers from Mosul to recapture the city rom the Islamic State (ISIS).

Salim Juma, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament was skeptical about the creation of a volunteer army, saying, “The liberation of Mosul has to be done either by the Iraqi army or the Peshmerga otherwise it will not succeed.”

“The Iraqi army alone is not up to this task and we will not agree to the role of Shiite volunteer forces,” he added.

Juma said that PM Abadi has not offered any concrete plans for a possible attack on Mosul.

“Abadi has repeated often that he will intensify his efforts for Mosul but it is all talk and there is no action,” Juma told Rudaw. “We want this to be a formal decree and agreed on by the ministry of defense and the Peshmerga ministry.”