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Anbar Antics
 Iraqi operation begins in western Anbar Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army and police forces, backed by tribal militias, launched on Thursday a first major campaign to retake western regions of the province of Anbar, near the borders with Syria, from Islamic State militants. Commander of the army’s al-Jazeera Operations, Lt. Gen. Qassem al-Mohammadi, said in a statement that the forces partaking in the onslaught are backed by an aerial cover from US-led coalition fighter jets. He said the operations target the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaem from Islamic State militants who maintained hold since 2014. Joint forces advanced Thursday towards Annah, he revealed. IS used regions of western Anbar as launching points for attacks against civilians and security forces. Iraqi security and coalition forces responded with occasional strikes on those locations. The most outstanding battle against IS in Iraq has been running since October at the city of Mosul, the country’s second largest city and the formerly proclaimed capital of the militants’ “Islamic Caliphate”. Generals say they have become in control over a half of the city’s eastern section and hope to advance towards the western section on the borders with Syria. Battles and hard living conditions in IS-held regions has forced at least 150.000 civilians to flee homes to refugee camps. Iraqi forces seize 80 barrel bombs in Ramadi Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Anbar Operations Command announced on Thursday confiscating 80 Jahannam (Hell) missiles and quantities of different rockets and remnants left by the Islamic State in the areas of al-Tharthar basin, in northern the province. Commander of Anbar Operations, Major General Ismail Mahalawi, said in a press statement, “Security forces searched the area of Albu Shamlon, in Tharthar basin, north of Ramadi, resulting in confiscating 80 Jahannam (Hell) missiles and quantities of different rockets and remnants left by the Islamic State.” “Security forces continue searching and securing the liberated areas, in order to remove military remnants left by the Islamic State, in preparation for the return of displaced people,” Mahlawi added. The areas of Tharthar Lake (70 km north of Ramadi) were fully liberated from the Islamic State, four months ago. Iraqi forces capture Hadith-Annan road Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces and tribal militias cleared on Thursday 8 kilometers of a road linking Islamic State-held towns west of Anbar as operations started earlier on the day to retake those regions. Qassem al-Mohammadi, commander of the army’s al-Jazeera Operations, said in press statements that army forces and allied militias cleared eight kilometers of the road between the towns of Haditha and Annah from militants, killing some as they advanced. Nazem al-Jugheifi, a senior leader at Popular Mobilization Units in the province, said the militias defused more than 100 explosive devices during the campaign. Meanwhile, Saad Rachid, mayor of Annah, said Islamic State militants were confining 8000 civilians inside the town, adding that those suffer medicine and food shortages. He however, predicted the IS-controlled regions to be retaken soon, arguing that most regions are empty of residents, which will facilitate the mission of security forces. IS used regions of western Anbar as launching points for attacks against civilians and security forces. Iraqi security and coalition forces responded with occasional strikes on those locations. The most outstanding battle against IS in Iraq has been running since October at the city of Mosul, the country’s second largest city and the formerly proclaimed capital of the militants’ “Islamic Caliphate”. Generals say they have become in control over a half of the city’s eastern section and hope to advance towards the western section on the borders with Syria. More on Hadith-Annan operation from Arab News BAGHDAD/ERBIL: Iraqi forces launched an offensive against the Daesh group near the Syrian border Thursday, piling further pressure on the militants’ crumbling “caliphate.” A joint operations commander told Reuters that Iraqi forces have retaken around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from Daesh militants and expect to reach the river bisecting the city in the coming days. Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who is also head of the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) spearheading the campaign to retake the northern city, said the cooperation of residents was helping them advance against Daesh. Baghdad and its allies also turned up the heat on Daesh in its last remaining Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, where the US-led coalition said it had doubled the number of its advisers. “A military operation has begun in the western areas of Anbar (province) to liberate them from Daesh,” said Lt. Gen. Qassem Mohammedi, head of Jazeera Operations Command. He said the operation was led by the army’s 7th division, police, and fighters from local tribes that have opposed the militants, with aerial backing from the coalition. The main targets of the operation are Aanah, Rawa and Al-Qaim, the westernmost Iraqi towns along the Euphrates Valley. The militant hub of Al-Qaim, which lies 330 km northwest of Baghdad, is still a long way down the road and the most immediate target is the town of Aanah. “Our forces started advancing from Haditha toward Aanah from several directions,” Mohammedi told AFP. Haditha was never seized by Daesh when the group swept across much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland in 2014 and is home to a tribe that has led the fight against the militants in the area. “Zero hour has come to liberate the western areas,” Nadhom Al-Jughaifi, a commander with the Haditha tribal fighters, said. In 2016, Iraqi forces retook large parts of the vast province of Anbar, including its capital Ramadi and the city of Fallujah. Anbar is a desert area traversed by the Euphrates that borders Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. Security in reconquered areas remains precarious and militants continue to move across the province. Daesh has lost more than half of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and the loss of Mosul would deal a major blow to the “caliphate” it proclaimed there in June 2014. Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces are currently involved in an offensive to retake the main northern city, which is also Daesh’s last major stronghold in the country. The operation launched on Oct. 17 is Iraq’s largest in years and while significant territory was reconquered around Mosul, the going has been tough inside the city itself. After a lull in operations, Iraqi forces launched a fresh push last week and appear to have found new momentum. “Iraqi security forces have made significant progress since initiating phase two of their operation to liberate Mosul,” Col. John Dorrian, the coalition’s spokesman, said on Wednesday. He said that was partly owed to increased coalition involvement in the battle, with a doubling of the deployment of advisers there to about 450. “We have increased the number of advise and assist forces that are there with the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) command elements to help advise them as they move forward and to synchronize operations,” he said. Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi promised that his forces would rid Iraq of Daesh by the end of 2016 but commanders have admitted they were surprised at how stiff militant resistance was in the city. According to a top commander in the Counter-Terrorism Service that has spearheaded the battle in Mosul, Iraqi forces have now retaken about two thirds of the city’s eastern half. Dorrian said the presence inside the city of hundreds of thousands of civilians had slowed progress. “There are more than 200,000 buildings in Mosul. And really, in order to do this properly, given the way that the enemy has conducted themselves, you end up having to clear each one,” he told reporters. Posted by: badanov 2017-01-06 |
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