Former Defense Minister and current MP Khaled al-Obeidi confirmed that there is “unprecedented” cooperation between the security forces and the people of Nineveh, while he considered that the fall of the city of Mosul in 2014 was caused by the “corruption and sectarianism” of the security services at the time .
Al-Obaidi said, “The corruption of the security services, their sectarian dealings, and the failure of their leaders before the ISIS events in June 2014 were the reason for Mosul’s fall into the hands of ISIS at that time .”
Al-Obaidi added, “The reason for the fall of Mosul was the corruption and sectarianism of the security forces that were present in Nineveh,” indicating that “the security forces at the present time are completely different from the era that preceded ISIS .”
He pointed out that “Nineveh is witnessing today an unprecedented cooperation between the security services and the citizens,” adding that “the main concern of the security services before 2014 was to financially blackmail the people of Mosul and pursue them with malicious charges without focusing on their real duty in pursuing and combating terrorism .”
Al-Abidi continued, “This bad treatment created a huge gap between the two sides, making each see the other as an enemy .”
On July 10, 2017, former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS in Nineveh Governorate, and the end of the “ISIS state of superstition and terrorism,” as he put it .
In October 2016, Iraqi forces began the battle to liberate the left side of the city before moving to the right side in February of the same year.
