Iraq army to secure post-Daesh Mosul until police ready

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD

The Iraqi army will remain responsible for security in the northern city of Mosul until local police forces restore their pre-Daesh capabilities, a military spokesman said Monday.

“There are no plans to withdraw military units from newly recaptured Mosul; it’s still too early for that,” Brigadier-General Yehia Rasul, a spokesman for the army’s joint operations command, told Anadolu Agency.

“We’re partially relying on the Nineveh police command, which fought alongside the military [during the campaign to retake Mosul], to secure liberated parts of the city,” Rasul said.

He went on to assert that local police forces “must bolster their security capabilities with a view to eventually assuming the task of maintaining order in liberated areas”.

Last month, following a nine-month-long campaign, the Iraqi army recaptured Mosul from Daesh, which overran the city in mid-2014.