UPDATED: Iraqi forces retake major area near IS-held Hawija
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) in Salahuddin.
Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces recaptured on Monday a strategic area on their way to retake Islamic State bastion Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, paramilitary commanders reported.
Hadi al-Ameri, a high-profile commander within the Popular Mobilization Forces, said the force, backing the army’s Counter-Terrorism Service, liberated al-Rashad region, southeast of Hawija. He said troops began clearing the region from booby-traps.
Earlier on Monday, Iraqi military media said Iraqi forces advanced towards al-Rashad as part of the second phase of operations to liberate Hawija, which launched Friday.
The first phase of operations launched on September 24th, and managed to retake eastern Shirqat, an Islamic State haven in neighboring Salahuddin province.
Parallel operations were launched late September targeting IS havens in western Anbar.
On Sunday, military media said joint forces recaptured 28 villages around Hawija with a few hundreds of militants killed since the launch of operations.
A wide-scale campaign launched with the backing of a U.S.-led coalition in 2016 to recapture areas occupied by IS since 2014, when the militants declared a self-styled “caliphate” rule in Iraq and neighboring Syria based in Iraq’s Mosul.
Iraqi government, coalition and paramilitary forces recaptured Mosul, the group’s former capital, and the neighboring town of Tal Afar early July and late August.