#MosulOp: Security officials sacked following IS infiltration

Nineveh’s governor has sacked three high-ranking security and government officials in the town of Qayyarah, located 60 km south of Mosul, for failing to prevent Islamic State group militants from infiltrating a nearby town.

Nineveh’s police chief, head of police intelligence, and the mayor of Qayyarah have all been sacked, an Iraqi official told Kurdish news outlet Rudaw on Sunday, after IS militants managed to temporarily overrun the nearbye town of Imam Gharbi a day earlier.

At least one Iraqi security force member was reportedly killed as a result of the infiltration. 

Iraq’s War Media office said in a statement on Saturday night that Iraqi security forces had since re-asserted control in the area.

The sackings were confirmed by Ghazwan Dawudi, a member of the Nineveh Provincial Council, in comments to Rudaw. 

Qayyarah was liberated from the Islamic State group in August and is home to an airbase seen as key to operations against IS in Mosul.

An assault on Mosul led by the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, and also involving the Popular Mobilisation Units, began in October with Iraqi forces having now battled their way into eastern districts of the city. 

However, as evidenced by recent attacks in Kirkuk, IS retain the capacity to strike in areas outside the extremist group’s control. 

Twitter Post

Translation: Federal Police General/Regiment Nine (Mejbel Matar al-Hamdany) was martyred during the attack on the village of Imam Gharbi, south Qayyarah