Iraq to launch military operation against Islamic State, White Flags soon
Banner of the White Flags group. File Photo
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – A wide-scale military operation will be launched soon to track down Islamic State remnants and the recently-emerged White Flags group in Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu, a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) spokesman was quoted as saying.
Speaking to the semi-official al-Sabah newspaper on Tuesday, Ali al-Hussieni, the PMF spokesman for the northern axis, said, “A joint force made up of the Iraqi army, police and the PMF will launch a military operation soon to target IS sleeper cells and White Flag militants in Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu.”
“The troops received accurate intelligence reports on the locations of those terrorists, who have committed several violations in Iraq during the past period,” Hussieni said, stressing that the military operation will hopefully eliminate all IS and White Flags militants in the two towns.
The White Fags group, whose members always carry a white banner with a lion’s head in the middle, began appearing in Iraqi in late-2017, especially after the worsening situation between Baghdad and Erbil and the elimination of IS in most of Iraq’s territory.
According to Al- Arabiya, members of the White Flags are estimated at hundreds, and the group’s main bases are in mountains and highlands.
Iraqi officials have always been condemning the group’s terrorist activities and blamed the Peshmerga for not taking proper action against it.