Iraq's parliamentary Security and Defense Committee revealed Jan. 20 the readiness of the military command to hand over security duties to the local police in seven provinces in the center and south of the country. This follows a debate in the National Security Council Jan. 8, headed by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, on the transfer of security duties from the Ministry of Defense to the Ministry of Interior.
Earlier, concrete steps were taken on the ground in some provinces. On Jan. 9, the Diwaniya province police announced that it started taking over security control from the Middle Euphrates Operations Command as of Jan. 1. In turn, the Diyala police command confirmed Jan. 3 that this year would witness a transfer of the security duties across all provinces without exception.