Iraqi forces liberated 45 villages from grip of ISIS

The leadership of the pro-government paramilitary troops have issued a statement on accomplishments made on the second day of operations to clear al-Jazeera region, which falls between each of Nineveh, Salahuddin and Anbar, the media service said.

“Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), along with the army and Federal Police units, backed by the army jets, resumed the second day of operations to liberate the desert between each of Salahuddin, Anbar and Mosul, reaching to Iraqi-Syrian borders,” the statement said.

Twenty-one Islamic State members, including Arab and foreign militants, were killed, while twenty villages were liberated, it said. Troops managed to gain control on headquarters of the group’s leadership in the depth of the desert as well as a booby-trapping workshop.

Earlier on the day, the mobilization forces’ media said IS members escaped their locations toward the desert depth of desert in Mosul, Salahuddin and Anbar. PMF media said Thursday the forces had cleared 55 villages in al-Jazirah.

The Upper Euphrates and al-Jazeera Combing Operations, previously announced that“army and al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces] started a wide-scale operation to liberate al-Jazeera regions located between Salahuddin, Nineveh and Anbar.”

Joint troops had managed to free several residential areas in Anbar, Salahuddin, Diyala and Kirkuk from Islamic State, which urged the militants to escape toward Al-Jazeera regions in those provinces.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said during his weekly press briefing on Tuesday that his country has defeated Islamic State over the military level, but will declare final victory after desert areas are purged of militants.

On the other hand, Three civilians were killed as a bomb went off inside a hospital in western Anbar, a paramilitary official said on Saturday.

In remarks to SNG website, Qutri al-Obeidi, a senior leader with al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said, “a bomb from the remnants of IS that was placed inside a hospital in Rawa town, exploded leaving three civilians killed.”

“Security blocked all roads leading to the blast spot and launched a campaign to look for other explosives,” Obeidi said. Iraqi troops managed to gain control on the town of Rawa earlier this month. Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

114 Iraqi civilians were killed, while 244 others were wounded as result of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly release by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), issued on Wednesday.

On political side,

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, coming in the first place with 177 civilian casualties (38 killed, 139 injured). Anbar province followed with 36 killed and 55 injured, and then Kirkuk with 18 killed and 33 injured.

The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016.

Iraqi President Fuad Masum has offered condolences to Egypt over the terrorist attack that took place on Friday in Sinai.

In a telegraph, Masum expressed, “deepest feelings of pain and condolences over the loss of the innocent victims due to the terrorist attack against al-Rawda village, west of Arish in Sinai today.”

Masum also expressed solidarity of the Iraqi people with the Egyptian people against terrorist groups. “We highly condemn such crime that violates all religious doctrines and human traditions.”

At least 235 people were killed, while more than 100 others were wounded in a bloody attack as militants bombed and gunned down worshippers as they were finished the Friday prayers, according to Egyptian media reports.

In a televised speech, Sisi said that armed forces and police will take revenge and restore security and stability with the utmost force. “What is happening is an attempt to stop us from our efforts in the fight against terrorism, to destroy our efforts to stop the terrible criminal plan that aims to destroy what is left of our region.”

Egypt has been fighting Islamist insurgency in northern Sinai, which gathered pace after the military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests.