MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Daesh, a radical terrorist Sunni group outlawed in Russia and many other countries, has captured vast areas in Iraq and Syria, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. The group has claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly terrorist attacks staged in different parts of the world.
"The backbone of the Daesh combat power are former generals of Saddam Hussein's army who were discharged by US forces occupying Iraq in 2003. The United States dissolved the Iraqi army and security forces, leaving people who were capable of fighting without any means to survive. Everybody understands it well now," Lavrov said in interview with the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.
The US-led coalition invaded Iraq in 2003, without a UN mandate, after accusing then Iraqi leader Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction, which were never found.
