213 families leave western Anbar
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement said Tuesday that 213 families have left western Anbar regions since security and tribal forces commenced an onslaught last week to recapture the area from Islamic State militants.
The families left the western towns of Annah, rawa and Qaem which are still hld by Islamic State militants, according to Mohamed Rashid, head of the ministry’s department in the province. They were distributed among refugee camps in Anbar and were handed out aid supplies.
Islamic State militants have been holding locations west of Anbar, close the borders with Syria, since the group emerged to the scene in Iraq in 2014 to proclaim the establishment of a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” across many regions of the country. Since then, it had launched occasional attacks on civilians and security in Anbar from those strongholds, with security forces, backed by fighter jets from a US-led military coalition, responding with recurrent airstrikes.
On Monday, Anadolu Agency quoted Mohamed Yassin, a member of Anbar Province’s council, as saying that refugee camps in Anbar host 22.000 families. The number of refugee families returned to their homes in the province has reached more than 121.000, he said.
The United Nations says there are more than 3 million people displaced inside Iraq.
Kops foil suicide bombing attack in Ramadi
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Anbar Police Command announced on Tuesday foiling a suicide attack, using a booby-trapped vehicle, and arresting the suicide bomber, east of the city of Ramadi.
Police Chief, Major General Hady Zerig, said in a press statement, “Anbar police forces managed, at afternoon today, to seize a booby-trapped vehicle and arrest it driver in Juwaiba al-Nassaf area, east of Ramadi.”
“The Bomb Squad was able to dismantle the vehicle,” Zerig explained.
“Members of the Islamic State are collapsing, after the liberation of the majority of districts and areas in Anbar. The remaining areas will be fully liberated in the few coming days,” Zerig further added.