Iraq forces gain ground from Daesh in west

Baghdad’s forces retook a series of villages from Daesh in western Iraq as they fought to oust it from territory near the Syrian border, officers said Friday.

The operation, which aims to recapture the towns of Rawa, Aanah and Al Qaim — the last main populated areas held by Daesh in Al Anbar province — was launched on Thursday.

“Our military units liberated seven villages from Daesh control between the town of Haditha and the town of Aanah,” said Staff Major General Qassem Al Mohammadi, the head of the Jazeera Operations Command.

Staff Major General Noman Abed Al Zobai, commander of the 7th Division, said that seven villages had been recaptured, and government forces had reached the outskirts of Al-Sagra, an area southeast of Aanah.

Iraqi forces have retaken Ramadi and Fallujah, the two main cities in Anbar province, but security in recaptured areas remains precarious.

Al Anbar is a vast province that stretches from the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the western approach to Baghdad, and has a long history of insurgent activity.

Meanwhile, elite Iraqi troops advanced against Daesh militants in eastern Mosul in their first night-time raid in the city, a spokesman said on Friday, in a US-backed operation which officials say is gaining momentum.

Counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces pushed across a tributary of the Tigris river shortly after midnight and drove back Daesh fighters in the Muthanna district, CTS spokesman Sabah Al Numan said.

“We used special equipment and had the element of surprise — the enemy did not expect us to mount a night offensive because all previous offensives were during the day,” he said.

US coalition warplanes carried out 19 air strikes in support of the assault, which killed dozens of militants, he said.

A second phase of the nearly 12-week campaign to drive Daesh out of its last major city stronghold in Iraq began last Thursday. The Mosul offensive is the biggest in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.

A 100,000-strong US-backed alliance of government and Kurdish security forces and mainly Shiite militia quickly overran Daesh in villages and towns surrounding the city but fierce resistance has slowed advances into the city.

The terrorists, who are deploying snipers and suicide car bombers and using civilians as human shields, are still in full control of Mosul west of the Tigris.

source : gulfnews