CIA, MI6 Knew About ’ISIL’ Attack Earlier in Iraq, Failed to Act

Local Editor

A new report by Telegraph wrote that head of Kurdish intelligence in Iraq said MI6 and CIA were warned of an impending attack by the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" [ISIL] on the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Baghdad, but British and US governments failed to act.

According to a report by Telegraph published on Sunday, it suggested the US and Britain were warned of a growing insurgency five months ago before militants began gaining territory in Iraq.

Senior Kurdish intelligence officials said they tried to explain to their allies in the CIA, MI6, and the central Iraqi government that the members of the "ISIL" could represent a great threat to Iraq's stability, but that those warnings failed to spark any action from the US and British governments.

Furthermore, Kurdish officials warned that "ISIL" is attracting foreign-born militants to its cause. Senior Kurdish intelligence officer Rooz Bahjat said that of the 4,000 estimated foreigners fighting alongside "ISIL," somewhere between 400 and 450 were born in Britain and convinced to join the insurgency.

These officials also said a formal alliance between "ISIL" members and ex-Baathists, who held power under Saddam Hussein, was nearly completed, and that it would lead to an attack on Mosul and other cities in northern Iraq.

"We had this information then, and we passed it on to [the British] government and the US government," Bahjat told the Telegraph.

"We knew exactly what strategy they were going to use, we knew the military planners. It fell on deaf ears," he said.

Since June 10, Iraq has witnessed a wave of violence fueled by "ISIL" militants.

In recent days, Iraqi armed forces have been engaged in fierce clashes with the "ISIL" militants, who have threatened to take their acts of violence to other Iraqi cities, including the capital, Baghdad.

Sources: News Agencies, Edited by website team