ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Veteran Iraqi Sunni and Shiite politicians clashed at the Erbil Forum on Friday over whether the Islamic State (ISIS) has been defeated in the country and if the groups is using “a corridor” to fuel a resurgence.
"According to the information we have obtained from officials, these terrorist groups do smuggling on Nineveh borders such as smuggling of sheep, cigarettes, and drugs,” said Mosul native Osamah al-Nujaifi who heads the Sunni Qarrar Alliance.
A committee was formed in the recent months to assess security of Mosul. They will submit a report to the parliament, he revealed.
"The report will include details on the situation in Mosul and dangers which threaten it as well as the presence of terrorists who are still active in Mosul. Hundreds of them mobilize in Nineveh area. Nineveh has become a corridor for these terrorist groups to Kurdistan Region, Diyala, Kirkuk and Saladin. Yesterday, an explosive vehicle exploded in center of Mosul,” added former Iraqi parliament speaker Nujaifi.
He also confirmed numerous recent media reports that there are "continuous attacks" by ISIS against Iraqi security forces and Hashd. "This is concerning."
Falih al-Fayyadh, the national security advisor of Iraq
Iraq National Security Advisor Falih al-Fayyadh countered that ISIS is, in fact, defeated in the country.
“We have to accept that the ISIS entity has finished in Iraq. I believe that if terrorism were to resurge, it would take a different model. The model will look more similar to al-Qaeda. I believe the old model is over, and the likelihood for ISIS to reappear in its former model and power is non-existent...” said Fayyadh.
He previously headed the predominately-Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi Committee.
“I would emphasize that the ISIS attack on Iraq, and the victory achieved against the group has brought about economic and political-and a giant tsunami that cannot be stopped. It will give birth to new political and social movements,” said Fayyadh whose Shiite comrades increasingly dominate the security apparatus in the country.
Following last year’s election, Sunni politicians have said they feel disenfranchised in Iraq’s political landscape. Fayyadh dismissed that sectarianism is at the root of extremism in the country.
“If we argue that the situation in Iraq is because of the sectarian nature and mismanagement, then we should look at the causes in Syria, Libya, Yemen and other countries. Terrorism is an illness and a project aimed to divide and destruct. It will interact with every negative situation in every environment,” said al-Fayyadh.
Previous Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the defeat of ISIS on December 9, 2017. Abadi was months away from the start of an unsuccessful reelection campaign. The move has been called “premature” by analysts.
During government formation talks he sacked Fayyadh as the Hashd committee leader, citing political reasons. Abadi then named himself head of the body. Abadi then lost the support of many influential Shiite politicians, and Fayyadh and Adil Abdul-Mahdi were seen as the two most likely options to become the new Iraqi PM.
The political situation in Iraq is "not stable,” argued Nujaifi.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said in February that Baghdad would deploy reinforcements to "secure" the border, particularly in Anbar province.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani also stated on Friday that “ISIS militants” are active in the disputed areas and those close to Syria.
“ISIS militants are currently moving around constantly along the strategic lines of Diyala, Kirkuk, Saladin, Anbar, and Mosul up to Syria. They move around and launch terrorist attacks on security forces and public places during the night,” he wrote in a statement read by KRG Interior and acting Peshmerga Minister Karim Sinjari at the event.
Barzani hinted that pre-2014 conditions of security gaps and incoordination remain.
“Most of them are from Iraq. This indicates ISIS militants remain. If ISIS is gone under such an unsettling situation, another terrorist organization will be born out of these remnants and conditions. That is why we should work seriously on a fundamental solution to this,” the statement added.
The First Erbil Forum concludes on Saturday.
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