Seventeen Islamic State militants killed in airstrike on Anbar secret tunnel
Representational photo
Anbar (Iraqinews.com) Seventeen Islamic State militants were killed in an airstrike on Anbar province, a leader in al-Hashd al-Shaabi told Arabs Today on Sunday.
“Iraqi Air Force launched an air raid on a secret tunnel used by Islamic State at Wadi al-Qathf area west of Anbar, killing 17 IS militants,” Qatar al-Obeidi said.
“The casualties included foreign IS militants,” he said, adding that the aerial bombardment left a large cache of weapons and ammunition destroyed.
The air raid was launched upon accurate intelligence information, Obeidi pointed out.
Earlier in the day, Head of Anbar Council Ahmed al-Alwani said that Iraqi-Syrian borders are totally secured by the Iraqi Army after the liberation of Iraq from Islamic State a week ago.
“The security situation in Anbar province is reassuring,” Alwani was quoted by IKH News as saying earlier on Sunday.
Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in Iraq earlier in November with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.
IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by the US-led international coalition, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.
Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Islamic State three years after the militant group captured about a third of Iraq’s territory.
In a speech during the international media conference held at the journalists syndicate in Baghdad on Saturday, December 9, Abadi said, “Our troops gained full control on the Iraqi-Syrian borders. We announce the end of war against Islamic State.”
Abadi’s announcement came two days after Russia announced a similar victory over Islamic State militants in neighboring Syria. Abadi declared Dec. 10 an annual national holiday on this occasion.