A well-known Arab intellectual has been speaking about the rise of Islamic State (IS), claiming that Iraqi authorities failed to take the threat posed by the terrorists seriously.
Arab writer Mohammed Hussein Heikal believes that 2,000 military specialists have joined IS, including Iraqi and European experts.
Heikal told Egyptian news channel CBS, “Arab forces have been defeated by IS militants on most battlefields, which indicates that the combatants are coming from beyond Syria and Iraq.”
He added, “IS was born because of a lack of political awareness of terrorism in the region.”
“The problem is that everyone is fighting IS for their own interests,” Heikal said.
Iraqi forces abandoned their posts after IS insurgents attacked Mosul in June 2014, leaving behind a significant cache of ammunition and military vehicles. It is believed that a large number of Iraqi officers have joined the extremist group.
