PMF spox accuses U.S. of evacuating White Flags militants to safe havens

Salahuddin (Iraqinews.com) – A spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) has accused the United States of dispatching jet fighters to evacuate White Flags remnants from Tuz Khurmatu district in Salahuddin into safe havens.

Speaking to Knooz Media on Monday, Ali al-Husseini, the PMF spokesman for the northern axis, said, “Kurdish residents have seen U.S. jet fighters landing behind a mountain chain in Tuz Khurmatu district and evacuating remnants of the White Flags group from there after the liberation of the district from this terrorist group.”

Earlier, Husseini had announced the liberation of Tuz Khurmatu from the White Flags members, saying that Iraqi warplanes, backed by PMF artillery shells, managed to put an end to a threat posed by this terrorist group in the district.

“A manhunt was launched in search for the remaining White Flags outlaws in areas surrounding Tuz Khurmatu,” he said, adding that the total elimination of this terrorist group will be announced soon.

Last week, Spokesperson for the Joint Operations Command Brigadier General Yahya Rasool vowed to crush the recently-emerged White Flags group very soon.

“The terrorist White Flags group does not pose a major threat to the security situation in Iraq since its members are estimated at dozens,” he said, adding that the Joint Operations Command has a complete database about the group and will launch an attack on it at the right time.

Speaking about the White Flags’ main goal, Rasool said, “This unlawful group aims at fomenting sedition in Iraq through targeting innocent people in areas like Tuz Khurmatu to prove that terrorism still exists and was not defeated.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.