Iraq govt lifts 130.000 war leftovers from Kirkuk’s Hawija
Military vehicles stand near a booby-trapped vehicle in Baghdad
Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government teams have begun removing tens of thousands of war leftovers from Islamic State’s former bastion in Kirkuk province.
The health and environment ministries said in a statement on Friday that their teams began removing 130.000 items left over by the war against the Islamic State in Hawija, a former group stronghold southwest of Kirkuk.
The process, carried out in cooperation with the military and police, comes in preparation for the return of refugees.
Iraqi forces declared victory over Islamic State militants in December, ending a three-year-old campaign to bring down the group’s self-styled “caliphate” declared in 2014.
The government declared the recapture of Hawija in September.
Explosives planted by the group across its bastions in Iraq have caused deaths even after the liberation of those regions by the Iraqi forces.