Iraq PM slams media for publicizing terrorist attacks

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has slammed media outlets, which he did not name, for drawing attention to terrorist attacks in the country after the declaration of victory over Islamic State militants.

“There are some who await the occurrence of terrorist attacks to promote the idea that victory has not been fully realized,” Abadi said Saturday during a speech on the “Iraqi Martyr Day” an occasion marking the death of Ayatollah Mohamed Baqer al-Hakim, a senior Shia cleric and an opponent to former leader Saddam Hussein who was assassinated in an 2003 bombing that killed more than 80 others.

“A number of agencies have made false reports following bombings, attempting to stabilize security, this is a part of terrorism, a support of terrorism,” Abadi said.

“When terrorism strikes, it needs media that highlights its crimes,” Abadi stated.

“We have eradicated terrorism and we will never stop before eliminating terrorist ideology,” said the prime minister.

Abadi declared victory over Islamic State extremists in December, stressing the collapse of their self-proclaimed “caliphate” after three years of military operations to retake the militants’ strongholds.

But Iraqi provinces, including areas seized back from IS, have seen occasional attacks against security forces and civilians, raising doubts that the declaration of victory was precipitous, an argument Iraqi government and military officials regularly repudiate.

Recently, Iraqi forces launched a fresh offensive in Kirkuk province to clear it from remnant IS cells, following an ambush in mid February that killed 27 members of the Popular Mobilization Forces.