Erbil- Arab tribes domiciled in Iraq’s Nineveh have stressed a collective and undisputable refusal for any intervention by Iran or Shi’ite-based Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the fight for Mosul’s retake from the ISIS ultra-hardline group.
As the battle to take back ISIS’ de facto capital in Iraq nears, communities across Iraq, namely Nineveh, fear that Tehran’s continued incitation of sectarianism might fail any initiative to recapture the ISIS stronghold.
Speaking on behalf of tribes in Nineveh, Sheikh Muzahim Ahmen Alhuwait explains the local rejection of Iran-backed PMF militants partaking in the Mosul liberation offensive.
Alhuwait says that Iran’s influence has been conjuring sectarian-spurred street support in Mosul backing former Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
All Arab tries in Mosul and Nineveh will not tolerate any presence for either Iranian or Maliki dominance in the region, added Alhuwait.
On the other hand, Shiekh Mohammad Albujari, head of Albujari tribe, says that all Arab tribes in the region are fully prepared to liberate Iraq’s Mosul.
He explained that the people of Mosul will also be playing a great part in freeing themselves from ISIS hold, given that the locals had showcased maximum resilience and noncompliance with ISIS’ ideology or ruling.
“Mosul will free itself at the hands of its own people, yet it still awaits a much needed assurance of not being stabbed from the back like what had happened in June 10, 2014,” said Abujari.
In late May, 2014, Iraqi security forces arrested seven members of ISIS militants in Mosul and learned the group had planned an offensive against the city in early June. Gharawi, the operational commander of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, asked Maliki’s most trusted commanders for reinforcements. Maliki was still in office at the time.
Senior officers scoffed at the request. Diplomats in Baghdad also passed along intelligence of an attack, only to be told that Iraqi Special Forces were in Mosul and could handle any scenario
With missing reinforcement, Mosul fell into the hands of the ultra-hardline terror group, becoming its de facto capital in Iraq early June.
Arab tribes in Iraq voiced loud concerns on the extent of Iranian infiltration into their homeland, and called upon all Iraqis to forsake Iranian involvement and stand in solidarity with other Iraqi tribes located in each of mid and north Iraq to overcome the current dilemma.