Shia militia leader: We are ready to chase ISIS inside Syria after liberating Tel Afar
Shia Militia. File photo.
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A senior official of al-Hashd al-Shaabi militia fighting against the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Mosul said on Wednesday, that his militia would continue to fight the militant group beyond the Iraqi borders inside Syria.
Abu Alaa al-Walaei, Secretary General of Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (Master of Martyers Battalions), said in a press statement, “Troops of al-Hashd al-Shaabi would continue to chase ISIS fighters inside Syria after liberating Tel Afar, west of Mosul.”
Walaei also pointed out that seven ISIS members were killed, and caches of weapons were discovered after liberating Asiliya and Mostantak villages. He added that his forces managed to repel an attack by a convoy of booby-trapped vehicles in the village of Yazidi, west of Mosul.
“The battalions raised the Iraqi flag above the liberated villages, and they are now engaging with ISIS in the neighboring villages of Tel Saqf and Mahlabiya, and inflicting heavy losses in lives and equipment on the extremist group,” Walaei stated.
Last Monday, Hadi al-Aemri, a senior leader in the Shia-led al-Hashed al-Shaabi, also voiced readiness to take the fight to Syria. “Our mission is to liberate our country, and we would move to Syria if it requires so,” he said.