Suspect Arrested in Connection with 2014 Daesh Massacre at Camp Speicher
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iraqi authorities have apprehended a suspect linked to the June 2014 massacre carried out by Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) Takfiri terrorists at Camp Speicher, an air force camp in the north-central province of Salahuddin.
The Interior Ministry identified the suspect as Abdelkhalek Khazaal Soltan and stated that he was arrested in a joint operation by federal intelligence services and counterterrorism police in Sulaymaniyah, the second largest city in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
According to General Saad Maan, the ministry spokesman, Soltan was involved in several operations after joining Daesh in 2013, specifically targeting security forces and participating in the Camp Speicher massacre, where he was among the perpetrators.
On June 12, 2014, Daesh terrorists abducted and killed approximately 1,700 Iraqi air force cadets from Camp Speicher, a former US base. The camp, housing around 4,000 unarmed cadets, fell under the brutal attack of the terrorists. Subsequently, the attackers brought the victims to the presidential palaces' complex and executed them, with some bodies thrown into the river. The horrifying massacre was filmed by Daesh and circulated on social media.
An investigation committee later disclosed that 57 members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party had aided the Takfiri Daesh terrorists in carrying out the massacre.
In a 2021 report to the Security Council, UN investigators classified the massacre of the "unarmed air cadets" and their instructors as "war crimes of murder, torture, cruel treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity."
The Iraqi judiciary has imposed numerous death sentences on those found guilty of participating in the massacre. For instance, in January, 14 individuals received death sentences for their roles in the tragic event. On August 21, 2016, Iraqi officials executed 36 men who were convicted of involvement in the carnage.
Tikrit was recaptured from Daesh in March 2015. During cleanup operations in the northern part of the city, Iraqi forces located the site of the 2014 carnage.
In December 2017, Iraq declared victory over the terrorist group after a three-year counterterrorism military campaign, in which the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, played a significant role. However, remnants of Daesh continue to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and sow fresh violence in the Arab country.
Daesh's attacks in Iraq have escalated since January 2020, following the US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport that killed General Soleimani and PMU’s deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The assassination led to a sharp increase in anti-US sentiments in Iraq, culminating in the passing of a bill by Iraqi lawmakers just two days after the event. The bill demanded the end of all foreign military forces led by Washington's government. Consequently, the US ended its "combat mission" in Iraq by the end of 2021, but Iraqi resistance groups insist on terminating the Pentagon's so-called advisory role as well.
