Army warplanes continue strikes on IS havens in western Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army fighter jets continued Monday to pound Islamic State locations in western Anbar, preparing for anticipated ground offensives to retake those regions.

A source at the army’s command in the province told Almaalomah website that the towns of Annah and Rawa, west of Anbar, witnessed intensive strikes that targeted five rest houses and  a building used as a court belonging to the extremist group.

The strikes also targeted Islamic State’s supply routes extending from the city of Raqqa, the group’s base of operations in Syria, according to the source.

Islamic State has held the towns of Anah, Rawa and Qaim since 2014, when they occupied a third of Iraq to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”. So far, there has not been a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions, but occasional offensives managed to take over several surrounding villages.

The Iraqi government declared victory over Islamic State in Mosul, the group’s former capital in Iraq, last month, and said it was going to proceed towards other group holdouts, including Anbar.

Also late July, Iraqi warplanes reportedly dropped millions of messages telling locals that liberation offensives for the province were nearing, and telling them to stay away from militants’ deployments.