Leader of Iraq’s Wa’adullah Militia:

Kurds seek to take advantage of the current situation in Mosul

Rasa – Ayatollah al-Alaq said that the Kurds want to annex more areas of Iraq to Kurdistan and as a result of this, they seek to take advantage of the current situation in Mosul.

News ID: 424757

Date: 03 November 2016 - 19:43

RNA – In an interview with Rasa News Agency, Ayatollah Sayyid Maytham al-Alaq, the commander of the Wa’adullah militia which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, said that the fall of Mosul to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in June 2014 was a very dangerous development for Iraq because it was not just the fall of a city but rather it was a threat to overthrow a government and political system.

The Iraqi Shi’a cleric added that after the occupation of Mosul, the Iraqi army became a disunited institution and for this reason, it was strongly felt that the Shi’ah religious authorities should intervene in this incident and save the people of Iraq and the Islamic faith from the threats posed by Daesh.

He said that due to the severity of this threat and the harsh circumstances facing Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa for collective jihad in which he called on “all able-bodied Iraqis” to defend the country, its people, the honour of its citizens, and its sacred places.

“Today, we can say explicitly say that this fatwa was able to save Iraq’s Islamic sanctities and people from the damage caused by Daesh,” he said.

In other remarks, Ayatollah al-Alaq referred to the actions of the Turkish armed forces and politicians from the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in regard to the operation to liberate Mosul, and said that Erdoğan still thinks Mosul is one of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire and desires to control this city.

The renowned cleric stressed that some Iraqi mercenaries are also assisting the Turkish government in this regard.

He explained that the common interests of Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan paved the way for presence of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces at Ba’shiqah military base and added that the Kurds want to annex more areas of Iraq to Kurdistan and as a result of this, they seek to take advantage of the current situation in Mosul.

“But the only force that today is the ability to deal with this project is the Popular Mobilization Forces,” he said.

Ayatollah al-Alaq said that recently, the leaders of the Popular Mobilization Forces clearly stated that any foreign intervention without the permission of the Iraqi central government is considered as occupation and the Popular Mobilization Forces will oppose against any foreign occupation of Iraqi territory.

“If they are drawn into narrow places, the Popular Mobilization Forces will teach Erdoğan’s Turkey an unforgettable lesson,” he said.

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