UPDATED: Iraqi forces retake 12 villages advancing towards Hawija
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi fighters.
Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government and paramilitary forces took over 12 villages near the Islamic State-held town of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, on Sunday as a second phase of military operations launched against militants’ havens.
Federal Police chief Shaker Jawdat and Popular Mobilization Forces said that the forces took over 12 villages west and southeast of the enclave on the third day of a second phase of offensives which launched Friday.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and military commanders declared on Friday the launch of a second phase of offensives to retake the town held by IS since 2014, saying that hundreds of militants were killed on the first few days of the offensive.
The first phase of operations ended a week ago.
So far, operations targeting Hawija managed to retake the town of Shirqat, an IS stronghold in neighboring Salahuddin, and dozens of surrounding villages.
Parallel operations were launched late September targeting IS havens in western Anbar.
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 and the neighboring town of Tal Afar early July and late August.