Zebari likens performance of Iraq forces to 2003 collapse

Iraq's foreign minister likened the performance of security forces when faced with a major militant offensive to the collapse of Saddam Hussein's army in 2003, in an interview published Friday.

"It is the same collapse that happened in the ranks of the Iraqi armed forces when American forces entered Iraq," Hoshyar Zebari told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

They "took off military uniforms and put on civilian clothes and went to their houses, leaving weapons and equipment" behind, he said.

A major offensive launched by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its allies late Monday has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others, driving towards Baghdad.

Security forces have so far failed to halt the push, with some throwing away their uniforms and abandoning vehicles and positions to flee.

Zebari also noted that ISIL has cooperated with other militant groups during the offensive.

ISIL is coordinating "with the Naqshbandiya Order and some extremist Islamist factions and Baath leaders from the former army," he said, referring to Saddam's forces.