Iraq Armed Groups Must Be under State Control, Says PM-Designate Abadi

There is no place for weapons or armed groups outside Iraqi state control, premier-designate Haidar al-Abadi said Monday, after suspected Shiite militiamen killed 70 worshipers at a Sunni mosque.

"I confirm that weapons must remain in the hand of the state -- there is no place for any armed group," Abadi told a news conference.

Abadi added that while he welcomes irregular forces fighting against militants who have overrun swathes of the country, they "must all be inside the framework of the state, and under the direction of the state, under control of the military and security forces."

On Friday, armed men sprayed worshipers at a Sunni mosque in Diyala province with machinegun fire, killing 70 people, officials said.

Officers and a witness said the attackers were Shiite militiamen who are fighting alongside Iraqi security forces, though some sources blamed jihadist group the Islamic State (IS).

The government turned to militiamen to bolster its flagging forces against an IS-led offensive that swept through the country's Sunni heartland in June, but in doing so has encouraged a resurgence of groups involved in brutal sectarian killings in past years.