Iraqi Government Determined to End Terrorism in Country: PM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said his cabinet is prepared to take all the necessary steps to put an end to terrorism.
“I announce general mobilization and total readiness to all powers -- political, financial and popular -- to stop terrorism and bring life to normal in the areas controlled by the terrorists in Mosul or any other city that they might be there,” al-Maliki said in a nationally televised press conference on Tuesday.
His comments came after terrorist militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized control of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
Maliki underlined that the government of Iraq will not allow Mosul to remain under the shadows of terror and terrorists.
“The cabinet is prepared for all the needed authorizations, and all the financial needs, and all possible gatherings. It created a special unit, called the Crisis Unit, to follow up on the operations of gathering and preparing and arming and planning, and taking all needed steps,” the Iraqi premier stressed.
He also urged the parliament to come together immediately and declare a state of emergency in Iraq.
Armed fighters believed to be part of the ISIL seized Mosul, on Monday night.
Hundreds of rebels launched an assault on Mosul, 350km north of Baghdad, engaging in combat with troops and police, the officials said on Tuesday.
"The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants," an Interior Ministry official told AFP, making it the second city to fall to anti-government forces this year.
