Iraqi military drops thousands of leaflets threatening Islamic State in Anbar
Archival photo.
The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell issued a statement on Wednesday saying “air force dropped leaflets on Qaim, Rawa and surrounding regions.”
The statement added that messages to civilians stated that security troops are coming to free them, urging them to stay away from the enemy.
The military also called on citizens who pointed their guns against troops to “head toward any house in Qaim and raise a white flag on it, when the troops invade.”
Similar messages were reportedly dropped earlier this month on the two towns.
Na’im al-Ka’oud, head of the Anbar provincial council’s security committee, was quoted this week as saying that military Operations to retake Rawa and Qaim, the Islamic State’s last two bastions in western Anbar, will be launched by end of the month.
Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them in 2015 and 2016. However, Anbar’s western towns of Qaim and Rawa have been held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic “Caliphate”.
Iraqi army announced the total recapture of the town of Annah and neighboring Rayhana area last month. Troops also liberated Akashat region, between Rutba town, on borders with Jordan, and Qaim, on borders with Syria.