Abadi’s victory announcement ‘premature,’ extremism still present in Iraq: Kurdish MP

“What Abadi presented was nothing but electoral propaganda,” Kurdish MP Hoshyar Abdullah stated, pointing to Iraq’s upcoming legislative elections in May.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Despite Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s announcement of a “final victory” against the Islamic State (IS), extremism in the country is still present, a Kurdish Member of the Iraqi Parliament said on Saturday.

“The announcement of victory over IS was premature as the organization could launch attacks whenever they want,” Kurdish MP Hoshyar Abdullah wrote on his Facebook page.

Abdullah, a member of the parliamentary security and defense committee, said the extremist group was “not finished” as Abadi had claimed, and that any discussions about victory or IS’ end was “inaccurate.”

In a televised address on Saturday, the Iraqi Prime Minister announced the “final victory” against the militant group following a campaign in western Iraq to expel the last remnants of extremists from the country.

Prime Minister Abadi also declared Dec. 10 would be “a national holiday that would be celebrated every year,” a remark Abdullah said was “premature.”

“What Abadi presented was nothing but electoral propaganda,” the Kurdish MP added, pointing to Iraq’s upcoming legislative elections in May.

According to Abdullah, who is a member of the Kurdish Gorran (Change) movement, it is widely expected that IS will resort to the methods used in the past by launching attacks carried out by suicide bombers or car bombs in Syria and Iraq.

He said the extremists were still capable of using guerrilla tactics against security forces in already liberated areas.

The Kurdish MP explained that the external and internal factors which led to the emergence of the group still exist in Iraq, and there was a possibility another extremist group may rise in the future.