Daesh plants bombs in Qur’an copies in Fallujah: Iraqi FM
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari says Daesh is hiding bombs and explosives in copies of the Holy Qur’an in its latest desperate efforts to slow the army's advance on Fallujah.
Speaking to the al-Ghad al-Arabi news network on Wednesday, Jafari said the tactic amounts to a desecration and contradicts the teachings of Islam.
“Such hideous acts will only motivate the Iraqi troops to fight terrorists with added strength” and wrest control of the city from Takfiri terrorists, he said.
Earlier this year, US Army Colonel Steve Warren recalled incidents in which the terrorists used the same tactics against Iraqi troops in Ramadi.
“These guys are disgusting; they have left bombs in refrigerators, they have put bombs inside the Holy Qur'an - we found that on several occasions in Ramadi,” Warren said back in February.
Daesh is resorting to more bizarre tactics as the Iraqi army is tightening the noose around the group in Fallujah. On Wednesday, Iraq’s counter-terrorism forces regained the control of the al-Shuhada al-Thaniya neighborhood to the south of Fallujah.
According to the Arabic-language al-Sumaria news website, the forces raised the Iraqi flag over buildings and continued to advance on other areas.
Fallujah, which lies 65 km from the capital Baghdad, has been held by the militant group since January 2014. According to officials and aid organizations, the terrorist group is committing gruesome acts in the town and using civilians as human shields.
In a recent incident, they said, the terrorists shot dead an unknown number of civilians as they tried to flee Fallujah.
Deputy special representative of the UN assistance mission for Iraq, Lise Grande, said on Wednesday that as many as 90,000 residents are trapped in the city.
She warned that if Fallujah is not liberated “quickly,” those holed up there could face a “harrowing situation” given that the city has been under siege for about six months with no supplies getting in.
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