Paramilitary troops deny receiving orders on withdrawing from Mosul
Members of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces). File photo.
“All factions of al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces] as well as the Tribal Mobilization Forces are still deployed there. There is no withdrawal orders,” Mohamed Nateq, a leader with PMFs in Nineveh, told Baghdad Today website on Wednesday.
“There is great cooperation with security services to preserve our control at Mosul,” he added.
Earlier on the day, a security source said PMFs were ordered to withdraw from Mosul and that they will no longer be responsible for security there.
On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State militants who had held the second largest Iraqi city since 2014. More than 25,000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.
Since the city was declared free, security troops continued to comb western Mosul areas for hidden IS cells. Despite the victory over IS there in the city, observers say Islamic State is believed to constitute a security threat even after the group’s defeat at its main havens across Iraqi provinces.
A government campaign, backed by PMFs and a U.S.-led international coalition, has been fighting the Islamic State group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.