Inside Story: Can Shia Militias Be Integrated into the Iraqi Army?

Though they've been accused of widespread human rights abuses, the Popular Mobilisation Units or Shia militias, have become a crucial part of the Iraqi government's anti-ISIL staratgey. Now Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wants to integrate them into the national armed forces. But can the state control them? And where do their loyalties lie?

Iraq Crisis: Generals in Army 'Handed Over' Entire City to Al-Qaeda[-]inspired ISIS Forces

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Three army deserters tell the Telegraph how Mosul, the second biggest city in Iraq, was given to terrorists by senior Iraqi army officials

Military deserters have painted a devastating picture of the inability of the Iraqi army to stand and fight, telling The Telegraph how entire divisions surrendered Mosul, Iraq's second city, without firing a single shot.

Speaking from the Kurdish city of Erbil, the defectors accused their officers of cowardice and betrayal, saying generals in Mosul "handed over" the city over to Sunni insurgents, with whom they shared sectarian and historical ties.

With Sunni insurgents now threatening the capital Baghdad the eyewitness accounts from the deserters' reveal how sectarian enmity has, in the space of mere weeks, destroyed the Iraqi national army, which the US government spent billions of dollars to build. (+ video) » | Ruth Sherlock, and Carol Malouf in Erbil, Lauren Williams in Doha | Friday, June 13, 2014