PMUs kills dozens of IS in Salahuddin as operations to secure highways continue
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops in Tal Afar, west of Mosul.
Hashd’s media service said the troops took over Tel Shana, a strategic hill in Salahuddin, after killing dozens of IS militants.
It added that PMUs also took over the villages of ِArab Leith, Mohamed al-Awad and Ard Mosaltan after intense fights with the extremist group.
The offensive is designed to clear villages along roads which had previously been infiltrated by Islamic State militants sneaking from Hawija, Kirkuk.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, an alliance of predominantly Shia militias, has been fighting Islamic State by the side of the Iraqi government forces since their formation by an edict from the country’s Shia clergy in 2014. It gained state recognition as a national force in November 2016.