Saturday, 21 June 2014
Militants seize Iraq border post, kill 30 troops
Volunteers in the newly formed "Peace Brigades" raise their weapons
during a parade in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, Baghdad on
Saturday. Iraqi security officials said that Sunni militants have seized
a Syrian border crossing after killing some 30 Iraqi troops in a day of
clashes
Sunni militants have seized an Iraqi crossing on the
border with Syria after a daylong battle in which they killed some 30
Iraqi troops, security officials said on Saturday.
The
capture of the Qaim border crossing deals a further blow to Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government, which has struggled to push back
against Islamic extremists and allied militants who have seized large
swaths of the country, including the second largest city Mosul, and who
have vowed to march on Baghdad.
Police and army
officials said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and
allied militants seized the crossing near the border town of Qaim, about
320 kilometres west of Baghdad, after battling Iraqi troops all day
yesterday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to media, said people
were now crossing back and forth freely.
The fall of
the border crossing came as Mr. al-Maliki faces mounting pressure to
form an inclusive government or step aside, with both a top Shia cleric
and the White House strongly hinting he is in part to blame for the
worst crisis since US troops withdrew from the country at the end of
2011.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most
respected voice for Iraq’s Shiite majority, on Friday joined calls for
Mr. al-Maliki to reach out to the Kurdish and Sunni minorities a day
after President Barack Obama challenged him to create a leadership
representative of all Iraqis.
Calling for a dialogue
between the political coalitions that won seats in the April 30
parliamentary election, al-Sistani said it was imperative that they form
“an effective government that enjoys broad national support, avoids
past mistakes and opens new horizons toward a better future for all
Iraqis.”
Al-Sistani is deeply revered by Iraq’s
majority Shias, and his critical words could force Mr. al-Maliki, who
emerged from relative obscurity in 2006 to lead the country, to step
down.
On Thursday, Mr. Obama stopped short of calling for Mr. al-Maliki to resign, but his carefully worded comments did all but that.
“Only
leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able
to truly bring the Iraqi people together and help them through this
crisis,” Mr. Obama said.
Mr. Al-Maliki’s State of Law
bloc won the most seats in the April vote, but his hopes to retain his
job are in doubt, with rivals challenging him from within the broader
Shiite alliance. In order to govern, his bloc must first form a majority
coalition in the new 328-seat legislature, which must meet by June 30.
Nearly
three years after he heralded the end of America’s war in Iraq, Mr.
Obama announced on Thursday he was deploying up to 300 military advisers
to help quell the insurgency. They join some 275 troops in and around
Iraq to provide security and support for the U.S. Embassy and other
American interests.
But Mr. Obama has been adamant that U.S. troops would not be returning to combat.
