Iraqi Military says operations at areas between Diyala, Salahuddin accomplished

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The military media has announced the outcome of offensives to comb the regions located on borders between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said, “the ground troops, backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) and army aviation supervised offensive carried out by each of Salahuddin, Samarra and Dijlah operations commands in Mutaibija and villages in its vicinity to clear them of militants.”

“Dijlah Operations Command managed to destroy 12 rest houses, five tunnels and four trenches, in addition to fuel containers that were used by Islamic State. Explosives and suicide belts were detonated,” the statement said.

Troops of the command, according to the statement, “destroyed two vehicles, four motorbikes, three weapon stashes and a booby-trapped haven.”

Three victims’ bodies were found inside a prison, the WMC said.

Troops of the Salahuddin command, “combed 19 villages, detonated seven bombs and burned two rest houses.”

Moreover, “Five bombs were defused by the Samarra Operations Command, while 12 villages were purged.”

On Monday, Karim al-Khaqani, PMFs commander, said in a press statement that operations lasted for three days to purge Mutaibija and surrounding areas have come to an end with the support of the Iraqi army’s 15th division and the airforce.

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. Since then, forces took back the group’s former capital, Mosul, the town of Tal Afar, Kirkuk’s Hawija, and Anbar’s Annah, Rawa and Qaim.