Iraqi premier sacks dozens of army officers

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has dismissed over two dozen military officers and retired a further 10 in an anti-corruption drive.

“The military leadership should have competence, and this is an important thing, as it is not possible for someone who is not efficient to do his work properly,” Abadi said on Wednesday via state television.

According to a statement issued by the prime minister’s office, 26 military commanders were sacked for corruption and incompetence.

It’s not immediately known if the dismissed commanders were from combat units or held administrative positions.

Abadi has also named 18 commanders for the new Defense Ministry posts.

“The second thing is integrity, as efficiency without integrity produces a vacuum. The third is courage, so that the soldier will fight in a proper way when he sees his commander has such qualifications,” added Abadi.

The prime minister’s military shakeup has been deemed an apparent effort to improve the Iraqi army’s performance against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

On October 7, Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani linked corruption in the armed forces to ISIL’s taking over of large regions of the country.

The ISIL militants have been committing terrible atrocities in Iraq and Syria, including mass executions and beheading of local residents as well as foreign nationals.

Iraqi army soldiers have been fighting the ISIL terrorists for nearly six months now. The troops have pledged to make more gains in their battle against the extremist group, which has large swathes of land under control in Iraq and Syria.