Al-Kadhimi assigns new army chief of staff

Shafaq News / A security source revealed early Saturday that the Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has assigned a new Chief of Staff to succeed Othman al-Ghanmi, who became Minister of the Interior.

 Al- Kadhimi assigned Lieutenant General, Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah to head the Army Staff, the source, who requested anonymity told Shafaq News Agency.

He added that Lieutenant General Abdul-Amir Al-Zaidi was assigned an assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Army for operations, Lieutenant-General Abdul-Amir Al-Shammari as Deputy Deputy Commander of Joint Operations, and Lieutenant General Basim Al-Tai as an assistant to the Chief of Staff for Administration Affairs.

The source pointed out that Al-Kadhimi is still in a meeting with Yarallah, as the assignment it likely to be announced later.

Since the formation of his government last month, Al-Kadhimi has made a series of changes at the level of security leaders, the first of which to promote  Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi as the head of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Forces (ICTS) whose sacking in September sparked a wave of protests across the country.