Iraq Fires Traitors, Accuses KSA of Encouraging Genocide

Local Editor

Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has fired senior officers for failing to halt the attacks of the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" [ISIL].

Four army commanders were dismissed because they did not perform "their national duty", a government statement said on Tuesday.

Iraqi forces have been engaged in heavy clashes with the terrorists.

Maliki and other senior figures of his government were joined by Sunni leaders in a call for "national unity", after talks in Baghdad on Tuesday evening.

They urged Iraqis to avoid sectarian grievances and said individuals with no official state function were banned from carrying weapons.

The Iraqi officers fired on Tuesday include the top commander for Nineveh, the first province where ISIL fighters made major gains.

Another senior officer would be court-martial led in absentia for deserting his position and fleeing a battle, the government said.

The announcement came as army reinforcements reportedly arrived in the strategic city of Tal Afar in Nineveh province to help recapture the town from insurgents.

The city of 200,000 people lies between Mosul and the Syrian border and was taken just before dawn on Monday.

The Iraqi air force was said to have carried out strikes in the area.

Meanwhile, Iraqi leaders have accused Saudi Arabia of promoting "genocide" by backing the terrorists.

A government statement said: "We hold them responsible for supporting these groups financially and morally, and for the outcome of that - which includes crimes that may qualify as genocide: the spilling of Iraqi blood, the destruction of Iraqi state institutions and historic and religious sites."

It came as authorities confirmed at least 13 people were martyred and 30 others wounded by a car bomb in a crowded outdoor market in Baghdad's Sadr City district.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team