Iraqi minister calls on Sunnis to join army's fight against ISIS

The Iraqi Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Ahmed Abdullah Al-Jubouri yesterday called on the people of the Salahuddin province to join the government’s forces for the purpose of restoring security and order in the province and expelling the Islamic State (ISIS) fighters.

During a press conference at the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad, the Sunni politician said that the sons of the governorate of Salahuddin have to “join the blessed operations to wipe out ISIS and they have to be at the frontlines”.

The inhabitants of Salahuddin, located 75 kilometres north of Baghdad, are mostly Sunni Arabs. Most of them fled to the north of Iraq after ISIS took control of Tikrit and neighbouring areas after June 2014.

The minister reassured Iraqis that the operation targets terrorists only and it is not intended to take revenge on a certain tribe or specific individuals. He stressed that everyone has to support the security forces for the sake of dignity and to reclaim the land they captured.

On Monday, a wide-reaching military operation was launched by the Iraqi forces in collaboration with thousands of Shia fighters as well as fighters who come from the pro-government Sunni tribes. The aim is to liberate Salahuddin from ISIS’s control.