Iraqi forces launch fresh offensive against Islamic State in Kirkuk
Commander of the Joint Operations Command’s field operations, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah
Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government and paramilitary troops launched Saturday a new phase of offensives against Islamic State’s stronghold town of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.
Operations commander Abdul-Amir Yarallah said in a statement that the Saturday attack targets IS hideouts in Azzawia and al-Naml regions, west of the Euphrates river in Hawija.
He explained that the offensive was a third part of a first phase of Hawija operations.
Meanwhile, the Popular Mobilization Forces, an alliance of Shia paramilitary troops operating under the government’s command, said they recaptured Tal Shaeer, a village south of Hawija. The force’s media service also said that other divisions moved from al-Udhaim Dam towards al-Zarka, also in the south.
The Iraqi government declared last week the launch of simultaneous operations to retake Islamic State strongholds in Kirkuk’s Hawija and Salahuddin’s Shirqat where a few thousands of militants are believed to remain.
Islamic State militants emerged in 2014, taking over large areas of Iraq and neighboring Syria to proclaim a self-styled “caliphate”.
Operations by the Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces, have, so far, managed to retake the group’s former capital, Mosul, as well as the town of Tal Afar, both in Nineveh province.
Coinciding with the offensives in Shirqat and Hawija, security forces have also launched a campaign to liberate Islamic State’s havens in western Anbar’s towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim.