Iraqi paramilitary forces destroy four Islamic State hotbeds in Diyala
A Shi’ite volunteer wearing a mask, who has joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), looks on during a parade on a street in Kanaan, Diyala province, June 26, 2014.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi paramilitary forces announced on Monday the destruction of four hotbeds of the Islamic State terrorist group during a military operation in Diyala province.
“Troops of the 4th and 24th brigades of the Popular Mobilization Forces, backed by Iraqi warplanes, destroyed four Islamic State hotbeds, containing clothes, foodstuffs and wireless devices as part of the third phase of the “Will of Victory” operation in al-Miqdadiyah district in Diyala,” the Arabic-language Algahd Press website quoted the media center of the Popular Mobilization Forces as saying in a press statement.
“Six explosive charges were also dismantled during the military operation,” the statement read.
Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in November 2017 with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.
In January 2015, Iraqi forces announced liberation of Diyala province from Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The province has seen months of fighting between Iraqi troops and IS militants especially in the Jalawla and Saadiyah areas in the province’s north and areas near the town of Muqdadiyah.