News / Iraq

Obama administration created Daesh terror group: Iraq’s Maliki

Thursday, 19 January 2017 10:49 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 19 January 2017 11:39 AM ]

Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki (file photo)

Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki says the government of US President Barack Obama is responsible for the rise and spread of the Daesh terrorist group in the Arab country.

“Daesh is a creation of the outgoing US President Barack Obama's administration, which has caused bloodshed in Iraq, Syria and Yemen,” said Maliki, who is the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa political party.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sky News Arabia television news network earlier this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry had accused Maliki of being behind Baghdad’s weakness and growth of the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq.

‘Daesh lost a quarter of its territory last year’

Kerry said Maliki contributed to the formation of Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi, claiming that the group had weakened government forces in face of Daesh militants.

Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters joined forces with Iraqi army soldiers and Kurdish forces in a major operation on October 17, 2016 to retake the strategic northern city of Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

The pro-government fighters also played a major role in the liberation of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, as well as Fallujah city in the western province of al-Anbar among many areas in Iraq.

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