The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham’s (ISIS) invasion of Mosul, the second-largest Iraqi city in terms of population, on June 10 did not come as a surprise, especially since the group has carried out similar operations in the past few weeks.

This indicates a change in ISIS strategy and shows its intention to spread the group’s influence through exploiting the official failure to attract the locals in the Sunni regions.

However, the quick fall of the Iraqi army and its confused withdrawal from all parts of Mosul, then from several regions of Kirkuk and Salahuddin, shocked the Iraqi people and politicians, and even the prominent Iraqi army leaders who left Mosul for Erbil, then returned to Baghdad.

The Iraqi government, which admitted to the fall of the army in Mosul, announced that strict punishment will be brought against the soldiers and officers who ran away or backed down, in an attempt to oblige them to stand their ground in the future. The government also called for declaring a state of emergency to control the situation and promised to arm whoever opposes ISIS. In addition, the government is declaring a state of general alert in the country.