Iraq calls for British help to rise again from desolation of Isil
BRITISH troops should stay in Iraq after the defeat of Isil to prevent the emergence of a security vacuum that remnants of the terrorist group could exploit, the country’s foreign minister has said.
Ibrahim al-jaafari said that although the nine-month battle for the city of Mosul would be over “in a matter of days”, continued military support and investment from coalition nations would be crucial to defeating the insurgency in the long term.
“British and American troops of the global coalition have played a very important role in delivering intelligence, training of the Iraqi security forces and providing logistics and weapons support,” Mr Jaafari said in an interview in London. “But this is not a ‘switch on, switch off ’ operation. It needs time until we rebuild the security system, the administration system, the economic system and the political system.”
“It is important that they withdraw as soon as possible, but what is more important is that they don’t leave a space that Daesh can use or fill,” he added, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
He added that support must also include investment. “The global coalition has supported Iraq in security. It has to continue its support for Iraq in construction and rebuilding.”
Isil turned Mosul into a stronghold of the group’s “caliphate” after overrunning the city in 2014. Iraqi forces backed by a Us-led coalition launched an offensive to retake the city in October last year.
British troops are not officially in combat roles in Iraq, but the UK provides air support and has deployed advisers to provide training, logistical and other support for Iraqi forces
‘What is more important is that they do not leave a space that Daesh can use or fill’
spearheading the assault. Haider alabadi, Iraq’s prime minister, congratulated the Iraqi military and people with a “major victory” over jihadists in Mosul on Tuesday.
But Iraqi commanders on the ground said fighting continued yesterday in the city, where security forces have faced a flurry of suicide bombers in recent days.
Lt Gen Sami al-aridi of Iraq’s special forces said that only about 300 Isil fighters were still holding out in a 500-square-yard enclave in Mosul’s Old City.
A large number of civilians are believed to be trapped inside the enclave, with around 1,500 fleeing with every 100 yards that Iraqi forces advance. It is not clear how many, if any, of the remaining fighters are from Western countries. Iraqi authorities believe the terrorist group attracted recruits from 120 countries, including the UK, France, and Russia, many of whom were based in the city.
Mr Jaafari said any British or other foreign fighters captured in the last days of the battle for Mosul would face prosecution in Iraq rather than being handed over to their own governments.
Confusion also surrounds the fate of the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-baghdadi, who proclaimed the foundation of a caliphate from Mosul’s Grand Mosque of al-nuri in 2014. The Russian and Iranian governments said last month that he may have been killed by a Russian air strike near the Syrian city of Raqqa in May. However, Mr Jaafari said he had not seen intelligence credible enough to confirm the claim.
The battle for Mosul has displaced more than half of the city’s pre-war population of two million and left large tracts of it devastated, particularly on the western side of the city where Isil has made its last stand.
Lise Grande, the United Nations’ Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, estimated the bill for repairing infrastructure, schools and hospitals in Mosul could go over $1billion.