Iraqi joint troops managed to comb over thirty villages within the second part of operations at Upper Euphrates and Jazirah region, the military media said.

In a statement on Friday, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, commander of Upper Euphrates and Jazira Combing Operations, said the pro-government al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) managed to purge 35 villages and an area of 4,300 square kilometers.

“The operation comes within the second part of the second phase of operations to comb Jazirah and Upper Euphrates regions,” he added. Iraqi joint troops started on Friday the second phase of military operations to comb the western desert, ahead of declaring the full liberation of Iraqi territories.

The operation seeks that troops meet in the desert between northern Nineveh and western Anbar in a road that stretches for 200 square kilometers, adjacent to borders with Syria. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said in November that his country has defeated Islamic State over the military level, but will declare final victory after desert areas are purged of militants.

Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool, spokesperson for the Joint Operations Command said in remarks last week that the second phase of operations to clear borders near Syria from Islamic State militants will launch soon. An area of 14,000 out of 29,000 square kilometers in the desert has been cleared by IS militants.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting since October 2016 to retake territories Islamic State had occupied.

On the other hand, Iraqi border troops have thwarted an attack by Islamic State against border crossing with Syria, a security source from Anbar said on Friday. “Border troops repulsed an IS attack against headquarters, north of al-Waleed crossing, coming from Syria,” the source told AlSumaria News.

“Two personnel were wounded while repelling the attack,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added. “Losses were inflicted on the militants, who retreated back to the Syrian lands.” Security troops control the crossing as well as an area of 80 kilometers in the north of the crossing.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said during his weekly press in November that his country has defeated Islamic State over the military level, but will declare final victory after desert areas are purged of militants. Earlier in November, Iraqi forces recaptured Anbar’s western town of Rawa, the very last bastion under Islamic State control.

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. A total of 117 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 264 injured, excluding police, in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, with 201 civilian casualties (51 killed, 150 injured). Salahaddin Governorate followed, with 24 killed and 60 injured, and Kirkuk had 12 killed and 28 injured.

On political side, The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has summoned U.S. Ambassador in Baghdad Douglas Silliman to protest at President Donald Trump’s decision to move his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“The ministry has handed Silliman a protest note over trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” spokesperson for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry Ahmed Mahjoub told Petra News Agency on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi government condemned Trump’s decision to move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

The government, in its statement, called on the U.S. administration to backtrack on this “wrong and dangerous” decision, saying that the U.S. move will have a negative impact on regional and international stability.

President Trump on Wednesday formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing nearly seven decades of American foreign policy and setting in motion a plan to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to the fiercely contested Holy City.

“Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital,” The New York Times quoted Mr. Trump as saying from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. “This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It’s something that has to be done.”