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Iraq revamps army to fight IS

January 6, 2015

Iraq has begun the process of rebuilding its army to better deal with the threat from Islamic State, which controls much of the west of the country. Multiple Iraqi divisions collapsed last summer during an IS advance.

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Iraqi soldiers in a parade (Photo: EPA/ALI ABBAS)
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

In a televised speech marking the 94th anniversary of the founding of Iraq's army, Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi acknowledged that a number of weaknesses, including poor leadership and training, led to the country's forces' defeat by IS jihadists in parts of Iraq.

"We are still in the early stages; some of them are known to you, and some remain in secret," the defense minister said Tuesday. "Weak leaders and incompetent members assuming the chain of command, a lack of disciple, weak training, poor performance and the disintegration of public trust in the security forces… were the reasons for the setback," he added.

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has sacked several dozen army commanders over the past few months on corruption charges.

"There is no place… for corrupt people among us, for corrupt individuals who want to destroy the institution of the military," he said on Tuesday.

The defense minister said the revamping of the army would require "changing some military leaders."

Many army units were short of weapons or had soldiers only listed on paper when IS took over the north's biggest city of Mosul last year.

With the backing of US-led airstrikes, Kurdish troops, and members of the country's Shiite and Sunni tribesmen, Iraq's forces have begun recapturing some lost territories.

shs/sgb (Reuters, AFP)