Iraqi forces managed to restore more areas in Anbar

Eight members of Turkey’s security forces and five Kurdish militants were killed in a clash early on Thursday near the border between northern Iraq and southeast Turkey, security and hospital sources said.

They said Turkish forces launched a helicopter-backed operation in search of further Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, who sought to cross the border into Hakkari province’s mountainous Semdinli district.

Six Turkish soldiers and two members of the country’s state-backed village guard militia were killed in the fighting, along with five PKK members, the sources said. They said the clashes were continuing. The PKK launched a separatist insurgency in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. It is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and EU.

In the same context, Two Iraqi soldiers and Islamic State militants were killed in confrontations that occurred as army attempted to break into the group’s stronghold in western Anbar, a military source was quoted saying.

“Fierce clashes broke out between Iraqi troops and militants as the forces attempted invading Qaim from the eastern side,” the source told DPA. “Iraqi troops face resistance by terrorists that hamper its advance toward the center of the town.”

“Thirteen militants and two soldiers were killed, while three others were wounded,” the source said adding that the killed and injured were taken to hospitals for treatment. Earlier on the day, huge number of militants were killed as Iraqi fighter jets managed to shell an IS convoy, composed of ten vehicles, driven by the militants. All were destroyed as they attempted to escape from the town to Syria’s Al-BuKamal.

In a daily press briefing on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi promised announcing liberation of Qaim within “few days”. Many IS militants reportedly fled Qaim heading to al-BuKamal in Syria, after several leaders ran away and were killed in airstrikes by the Iraqi and U.S.-Coalition jets.

Operations were launched last week to liberate Qaim and Rawa towns. Each of Qaim and Rawa have been held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic “Caliphate”.

In Baghdad, Five persons were killed and injured in a bomb blast in northern Baghdad, a security source said on Thursday. “A bomb exploded near stores in al-Rashidiya region, leaving one killed and four others wounded,” the source told Baghdad Today website.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014. 114 Iraqi civilians were killed, while 244 others were wounded as result of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly release by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), issued on Wednesday.

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, coming in the first place with 177 civilian casualties (38 killed, 139 injured). Anbar province followed with 36 killed and 55 injured, and then Kirkuk with 18 killed and 33 injured.

The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016.

The total figure marked a decline from last month’s, which reached more than 500 civilians. The victims went down from 196, while the injured decreased down from 381.