KurdistanObserver.com
Mosul Governor Brushes Off Concerns About Peshmerga
Involvement In The Coming Campaign
April 18, 2008
The governor of Ninawa province Dureid Kashmula, made remarks in an interview
with AlHayat on how things look ahead of the expected military campaign in Mosul
(the initiative originally announced by Prime Minister Maliki in January for the
eradication of "AlQaeda," then postponed pending the famous battle of Basra).
The governor said military preparations are under way, and the offensive will
begin shortly.
The first point emphasized in the AlHayat summary of his remarks is that the
recent decline in security in Mosul city is because of re-assignments of police
and army away from their traditional areas of policing, in preparation for the
big push, and this has left the areas they used to patrol vulnerable. A resident
said some areas are in government control, others in the control of armed
groups, while the Americans limit themselves to secure areas. Another said the
government controls the streets in the daytime, and the armed groups have
control at night. The governor denied this and said the government is in control
at all times.
Another resident said most roads in Mosul are closed ahead of the attack, and
this along with endemic violence are making it difficult for people to get to
work and so on. The journalist says families have been stockpiling food, in
expectation of being shut in during the fighting, and this has led to recent
rises in food prices, adding to their problems.
On the campaign itself, the governor said it will include all areas of Ninawa
province where there are armed groups. It will be undertaken by the "Iraqi
forces, supported by the American forces". The governor "emphasized the
[positive] position of the Kurdish parties and the their military affiliate the
Peshmerga with respect to the "enforcing the law" initiative [original "surge"
scheme], and their desire to see the end of terrorism and the preservation of
security in the city. And he said anyone who says differently is just trying to
cause troubles and anxiety in the city, and he described such people as
"fishing in troubled waters".
Armed social and political groups have accused the Peshmerga of being
responsible for bombings throughout the province, which has been subject to
attempts to join parts of it to the Kurdistan Region, and [they allege that] the
coming military campaign is part and parcel of these Kurdish aims, but the
Kurdistan Regional government has denied these charges in a statement that
called them an attempt at disinformation.
Indications of Sunni Arab anxiety about Peshmerga or other
sectarian involvement in this have been briefly noted here and, even more
important, here, (toward the end of the post) where the Ninawa tribal council is
quoted warning that the Iraqi military is penetrated and melded with sectarian
people right up to its leadership level, and pleading for an opening to local
volunteer recruitment to protect the city.
