Khaled al-Obeidi is the first sitting defense minister to receive a no-confidence vote from parliament since the overthrow of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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The commander said engineering units were now clearing the town, lies about 60 kilometres south of Mosul, of unexploded ordnance and booby traps.
On Aug. 9, the Iraqi parliament voted to strip its speaker and two lawmakers of immunity from prosecution over the corruption allegations revealed by Obeidi, but hours later, the Iraqi judiciary cleared Jubouri of such charges. Al-Abadi said the victory marks an “important step” on the road to Mosul.
Obeidi’s no-confidence vote happened under dubious circumstances, which could be used to take out the entire Iraqi government.
“This is a blow to the organization of Daesh (ISIS) because it affects their economy, and this after we retook an air base that is now going to be used to attack them”, he said.
In a bitter response to the vote, Obeidi said on Twitter that he had “tried to fight corruption as much as possible”.
Iraqi Security Forces cut “ground line of communication between the ISIS-held towns of Shirqat and Qayyarah in an operation from July 2 – 13”, according to the Institute for the Study of War. At the time al-Abadi said al-Obeidi’s appointment was meant to fight entrenched corruption that had weakened the country’s military before the 2014 IS blitz.
“The coalition remains focused on our mission to defeat Daesh by supporting ISF as they continue the campaign to liberate the country”, Dorrian said on Twitter, using a local acronym for the extremist group.
Iraqi forces have been battling IS militants in an attempt to retake territory captured by the terrorist group in northern and western Iraq in 2014. Obeidi, who is from Mosul, had the confidence of the people, Kiki said.
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The United Nations’ refugee agency warned this week that an offensive on Mosul could displace another 1.2 million people and cause a major disaster.
