Iraqi army seized a cache of chemical substances related to ISIS

Iraqi army sources said Thursday that the Iraqi army bombed the positions of the organization "Daash" in villages northeast of the city of Baquba, the center of Diyala province 57 km northeast of Baghdad. Meanwhile, the Iraqi ambassador to Saudi Arabia Rushdie al-Ani expressed his appreciation to Saudi intention to open a new consulate in the province of Basra.

In the same context, Iraqi government forces seized on Thursday a cache of chemical substances belonging to Islamic State militants in central Mosul, the police service said. Federal Police chief, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, said in a statement that the reservoir, found in Mekkawi street in Mosul’s Old City, included c4 and ammonia among other substances.

Iraqi government forces regained control over the city of Mosul early July after a nine-month campaign seeking to bring down the self-styled “caliphate” declared by the militants from  Mosul’s Old City in 2014.

Occasional reports had told of attacks by IS against civilians and security forces in which militants used improvised chemical weapons since an inventory of chemical arms was discovered by Iraqi forces inside laboratories of Mosul University in the eastern side of Mosul, which government troops took over from IS in January.

Security personnel had seized a number of chemical stashes belonging to the extremist group during and after the end of the military campaign.The United Nations had previously confirmed cases of civilians being treated for symptoms of what seemed to be chemical agents.

On the other hand, Iraq’s Defense Ministry removed its spokesman on Wednesday after clashing statements regarding the start of an invasion of Islamic State’s last haven in Nineveh province.

Minister Erfan al-Hayali removed Brig. Gen. Mohamed al-Khodari after he declared Tuesday the start of the invasion of the town of Tal Afar, the last enclave  held by Islamic State militants in Nineveh and the next target marked for military operations by government troops.

With warplanes carrying out air raids on the group’s locations in Tal Afar on Tuesday, Khodari was quoted saying that military operations began to retake the town. Shortly afterwards, Yahia Rasoul, a spokesperson of the Joint Operations Command, which had led field operations against IS, refuted the statement, saying that the raids were only meant to exhaust the militants’ powers.

The Defense Ministry said late July that the date for Tal Afar invasion had been set, but would not be made public to maintain the secrecy of operations.

IS held Tal Afar since 2014, when militants proclaimed a self-styled “caliphate”. Early July, Iraqi government troops, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces, recaptured Mosul, IS’s former capital in Iraq.

On political side, Saudi Arabia could open a new embassy in Najaf, Iraq, within the upcoming four months at the latest, according to Charge d’Affaires of Saudi Embassy in Iraq Abdulaziz al-Shammari.

Shammari stated that the Saudi-Iraqi openness will reflect positively on people of both countries and achieve development and stability which will lead to establishing stability in Iraq. Shammari comments came following his visit with Iraqi ambassador in Riyadh Rashidi Mahmoud al-Ani to al-Jadidah Arar border crossing between Saudi Arabia and Iraq In preparation for the crossing’s inauguration.

They toured the crossing facilities and talked to officials from both countries as well as Iraqi pilgrims. The two officials visited the Saudi Northern Borders Province and met its Governor Prince Faisal bin Khalid in his office. Iraqi embassy in Riyadh confirmed Sunday it had received an official request from Saudi foreign ministry to open a consulate in Najaf. Iraqi Ambassador said the move proves Saudi Arabia seeks to boost bilateral ties.

Saudi Charge d’Affaires believes that the past period had taught both countries a lesson on the importance of maintaining strong relations. He stated that for 11 months in Baghdad, he witnessed the kindness and generosity of the Iraqi people. He blamed some media outlets for their attempts to harm the relations, but insisted that both countries are linked by blood and religion.

Shammari said that over the past few months, several Iraqi ministers visited the Kingdom and the officials of both countries agreed on a lot of investments and projects that serve the two countries, and a memorandum of understanding on air transport was signed.