Takfiris on run amid army operations in north: Iraq FM

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says the Takfiri militants who have recently stormed the country’s northern cities of Mosul and Tikrit are “on the run” because of the army’s counterattacks.

Zebari told Sky News on Thursday that the situation in the two cities had “stared to be reversed,” stressing that the al-Qaeda-linked militants are now “on the run.”

“Iraqi security forces have managed to reorganize and push … [militants] back to prevent them from taking some other important strategic installations further south of Tikrit” in the northern Salahuddin Province, according to the Iraqi minister.

He further said there are signs that the Takfiri militants are withdrawing from Mosul because of the Iraqi army’s counter-offensive in the city.

The top Iraqi diplomat has called on the country’s leaders to come together to counter the “serious” terrorist threats endangering the entire Iraq.

On June 10, Iraq’s northern Nineveh Province fell into the hands of the militants. The Takfiri attacks have reportedly forced more than half a million people in and around Nineveh’s provincial capital, Mosul, to flee their homes.

Clashes continue between Iraqi soldiers and the Takfiri militants, who have vowed to march toward the capital. The armed forces have also launched a major offensive against the militants operating in the Salahuddin Province.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on June 10 that his country was involved in a “war against terrorism,” stressing that Baghdad “will never permit Mosul and Nineveh to remain under the shadow of terror and the terrorists.”

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Mosul, which is the second largest city in Iraq.