Around 40 foreign suicide bombers enter Iraq every month, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said late on Monday, calling for countries in the region to curb the flow of foreign fighters.
Suicide bombers are one of the deadliest weapons of the Islamic State militant group, which deploys them in explosives-packed vehicles to breach Iraqi defenses or cause mass civilian casualties in crowded areas.
“An average of 40 suicide bombers enter Iraq per month. The number of foreign fighters in the country now exceeds the number of Iraqis [in IS],” Abadi said in televised remarks, the Middle East Online reported.
He added that there are suicide bombers “from every country” in the region. “There is a problem to be addressed by these countries.
“It is up to others ... to stop these terrorists from coming to our country, and to stop this machine of killing and destruction and terrorism.”
IS launched a brutal offensive last June that overran a third of Iraq, including swathes of its border with Syria where the group also holds significant territory, making it easy for foreigners to enter the country.
Baghdad and other areas across Iraq see near-daily bombings, many of which are claimed by the IS.
The group has carried out regular attacks in and around Baghdad, mainly targeting the security forces and the country’s Shia majority, while battling Iraqi forces on multiple fronts elsewhere in the country.
