Repeated failures by Iraq's army commanders in their fight against
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group as well as a high
casualty rate among soldiers have increased pressure on Iraq's new Prime
Minister Haider al-Abbadi to take action.
On September 23,
Abbadi forcibly retired two of his army generals and revoked the office
of the armed forces' commander-in-chief in a move widely seen as an
attempt to remedy the army's successive losses in Anbar and Salahuddin
provinces.
Last week, at least 300 Iraqi soldiers were killed or captured in the town of Saqlawiyah, west of Baghdad [AP]
