Iraqi forces launched their operation in Hawija recapturing

Iraqi joint troops have managed to recapture twenty villages from Islamic State’s grip, in Hawija, Kirkuk, concluding the first phase of the offensive, military said. “Federal Police, Rapid Response, army brigades and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), liberated twenty villages in Hawija,” Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, commander of Hawija Operations, said on Thursday.

According to Yarallah, Iraqi troops managed to conclude the first phase of operations, which started early on the day. During a joint press conference with Ryan Dillon, spokesman of the U.S.-led coalition against IS, on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said the number of Islamic State members in Hawija falls between 800 and 1500.

Earlier on the day, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and Lt.Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, deputy commander of the Joint Operations Command announced launch of first phase of operations to liberate Hawija and western Shirqat. Several villages in Shirqat have been retaken.

Hawija and other neighboring regions, west of Kirkuk, have been held by IS since mid-2014, when the group emerged to proclaim an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. Other offensives were launched earlier this week at the group’s havens in western Anbar’s borders with Syria.

In the same context, The pro-government paramilitary troops have pounded an Islamic State gathering of meeting on borders between Iraq and Syria, the media service said.

In a statement on Thursday, al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said, “artillery of the first brigade shelled an IS gathering south of Tal Sufuq, on borders between Iraq and Syria.” “Huge losses in lives and equipment were inflicted on the enemy due to shelling,” the statement said adding that the militant group tries to attract attention to ease pressure on militants in western Shirqat.

Earlier on the day, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy PMFs commander, said, “military operations carried out by the troops in cooperation with security services will take place through two stages; first one at western Shirqat, north of Tikrit, while the second at Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.”

PMF announced earlier liberating five villages in northeast of Shirqat and killing several militants hiding at houses there. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and Lt.Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, deputy commander of the Joint Operations Command announced on Thursday launch of first phase of operations to liberate Hawija and western Shirqat.

The Iraqi army said in September its forces recaptured the western coast of Shirqat, located south of Mosul, on the west bank of the Tigris river, after being surrounded for months by Iraqi troops and the pro-government Shi’ite militias. The eastern coast of Shirqat, is still under the IS control.

On humanitarian side, Paramilitary troops fighting Islamic State militants said Thursday they had rescued dozens of families in Salahuddin province as operations continue to militants’ havens.

Jabbar al-Maamouri, a senior leader at the Popular Mobilization Forces, told Alsumaria News that the troops managed to set free 30 families which the militants had tried to use as human shields as a military campaign seeks to retake the eastern side of the Islamic State-held town of Shirqat.

Maamouri said four defense lines set by IS had collapsed without resistance, while several villages were recaptured. He added that ten militants turned themselves in with security forces.

Iraqi government and paramilitary forces recaptured several villages on Thursday as the government launched a wide-scale, final operation to retake all of Islamic State’s remaining havens in Kirkuk and Salahuddin.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the Joint Operations Command said Thursday that major offensives were launching to retake Islamic State last bastions in Salahuddin’s Shirqat and Kirkuk’s Hawija. Other offensives had launched earlier this week at the group’s holdouts in western Anbar’s borders with Syria.