Islamic State hideout destroyed in airstrike on Diyala village: Commander
Islamic State militants
“The Iraqi army targeted an IS hideaway at Bablan village in al-Muqdadiyah city, some 35 km northeast of Baqubah,” Commander of the Tigris Operations Lieutenant General Mazher al-Azzawi told AlSumaria News on Sunday.
“A security force, afterwards, rushed to the scene and destroyed the hideout completely,” he said, adding that the air raid was launched upon accurate intelligence information.
“Our strategy to eliminate IS remnants in Iraq has achieved significant results over the past months,” he concluded.
The Iraqi army announced on Thursday the launch of an offensive to clear the desert bordering Syria of IS militants.
Army, police and paramilitary units are taking part in the operation, which aim at clearing provinces of Salahuddin, Nineveh and Anbar provinces that form part of a region known as al-Jazirah, from Islamic State.
The operation comes days after Iraqi forces recaptured Rawa, the last Iraqi town controlled by the militant group.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he will announce “the final defeat” of IS once it is routed in the desert.
Many IS militants are believed to have fled to sparsely-populated parts of the al-Jazirah region after suffering a series of defeats across Iraq and Syria.