Nineveh to be divided into eight provinces: Former Governor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – After the liberation of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS), we will create six to eight provinces, former Nineveh Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi said on Tuesday.

There are discussions to reorganize Nineveh Province in post-IS Mosul as a region made of  the province of Sinjar (Shingal), one or two provinces in Nineveh Plains, one or two provinces in Talaafar area, another province in the south of Mosul and the city of Mosul as a separate one, Nujaifi said in an interview with the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.

He believes in this way, all parts of Nineveh can administrate and protect their areas since they each will have own military forces.

He also mentioned that the military is ready to launch the Mosul offensive but the planning is not yet complete.

Nujaifi believes that Kurdish Peshmerga forces are ready to attack Mosul because they are deployed near the city, but Iraqi security forces are in the town of Qayyarah, located 50 kilometers south of Mosul.

On June 2014, IS occupied Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq located in the north of the country. Since then, the city remains under the control of the IS militants.

Nujaifi stated that Erbil and Baghdad governments disagree on who will administer and protect the area post-IS.

“Kurds have three conditions for Mosul offensive,” he continued. “According to my information, Kurdish conditions are in the interest of Mosul residents because the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) values the security of the city in post-IS Mosul. Most of Kurdish conditions are related to the situation after Mosul liberation.”

Nujaifi who is also the commander of Sunni Hashdi al-Watani militia stated that both the KRG and the US are against the Shia militia Hashd al-Shaabi's participation in Mosul offensive, especially entering the city of Mosul when the military operation starts.

Regarding the number of the IS extremists inside Mosul, he believes that there are around 7,000 extremists in Nineveh-controlled territories of IS and almost half of this number are in the center of Mosul.

In another part of the interview, Nujaifi added that Iraq, Turkey, and the US-led coalition have agreed to make the Turkish training base in northern Nineveh to a military camp of the US-led coalition supervised by Turkey.

Previously, Bashar Kiki, the head of Nineveh Provincial Council (NPC) told Kurdistan24 that the role of Peshmerga in Mosul offensive is vital because Peshmerga have five gates to attack and enter Mosul while the Iraqi army possesses only one.

Editing by Ava Homa