Iraq observes 8th anniversary of fall of Mosul, Camp Speicher massacre
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq commemorated the eighth anniversary of the infamous fall of Mosul to ISIS militants in June 2014 and the massacre of Iraqi cadets at Camp Speicher.
“Today, we commemorate the tragic events of Camp Speicher and Mosul 8 years ago and underscore our commitment to fighting terror and extremism,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi tweeted on Friday.
“Iraqis healed their wounds and carry the honor of a living victory while Daesh (ISIS) has suffered shame and defeat.”
Today, we commemorate the tragic events of Camp Speicher and Mosul 8 years ago and underscore our commitment to fighting terror and extremism.
— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi مصطفى الكاظمي (@MAKadhimi) June 10, 2022
Iraqis healed their wounds and carry the honor of a living victory while Daesh has suffered shame and defeat.
In a mere six days in early June 2014, a small number of ISIS militants captured Iraq’s second city Mosul after the Iraqi Army fled from the north of the country. The militants also overran the town of Tikrit and massacred up to 1,700 unarmed Shiite cadets. The incident became known as the Speicher massacre.
The remains of over 1,200 victims have since been recovered, according to the International Campaigns for Missing Persons (ICMP).
Legal efforts are ongoing to hold the perpetrators and accomplices accountable for these crimes. Iraqi judicial authorities have handed out death sentences to more than 50 people believed to have participated in the atrocity.
ISIS declared its self-styled caliphate that extended across large swathes of Iraq and Syria after capturing Mosul and symbolically dismantled the so-called Sykes-Picot border between Iraq and Syria.
Many civilians who fled ISIS sought shelter in the neighboring Kurdistan Region. The autonomous region soon hosted over a million displaced persons.
Iraq recaptured Mosul with the help of the US-led coalition in July 2017, and the Iraqi part of the ISIS caliphate was declared defeated by Baghdad in December of that year.
The three-year war to reclaim all this lost territory killed thousands and caused widespread destruction.