US, KSA main culprits in Iraq crisis: Iraqi official

Iraq’s minister of transportation says the fighting in his country is not caused by sectarian division contrary to the claims made by Saudi Arabia and the US.

Hadi al-Amiri says the United States is backing terrorist organizations operating in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also accused Washington of trying to justify its stance on Iraq by describing the crisis there as sectarian.

The Iraqi government has blamed the US ally, Saudi Arabia, for a rise in bloodshed and terrorist attacks in the country.

The Iraqi cabinet has said in a recent statement that Riyadh is supporting and financing the Takfiri militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It added that the Arab kingdom must be held responsible for the crimes committed at the hands of the militants

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has informed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that Riyadh must be held accountable for the recent wave of terrorist attacks which have claimed thousands of lives in Iraq.

Over the past days, Iraqi armed forces have been engaged in fierce clashes with the terrorists, who have threatened to take their acts of violence to other Iraqi cities, including the capital, Baghdad.

However, their advance has been slowed down as Iraqi military forces and volunteer fighters have begun engaging them on several fronts, pushing the militants out of several areas they had earlier overrun.

On Sunday, Iraqi security forces inflicted heavy losses on the ISIL terrorist group in their operations near Baghdad. Reports say more than 90 Takfiri militants were killed in clashes with security forces in Tikrit and Fallujah.

Political experts say Iraq has been targeted by US-trained Takfiri terrorists who will doubtlessly target the United States.

Al-Maliki has repeatedly said the US regional allies Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some other Persian Gulf Arab states are supporting the militancy in Iraq.