ISIS detains 20 families in Anbar
Qaim (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants arrested 20 families who were fleeing a group haven in western Anbar, a security source was quoted saying late Tuesday.
The families were fleeing Islamic State’s stronghold city of Qaim, on the borders with Syria, but were captured before reaching the city of Rutba, Alghad Press quoted the source saying.
Since they took over a third of Iraq in 2014, Islamic State militants have executed civilians fleeing the group’s holdouts and used them as human shields, according to government agencies, local and international aid groups.
Islamic State militants have held the towns of Anah, Rawa and Qaim since 2014, when they occupied a third of Iraq to proclaim their self-styled “caliphate”. So far, there has not been a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions, but occasional offensives managed to take over several surrounding villages.
The Iraqi government declared victory over Islamic State in Mosul, the group’s former capital in Iraq, in July, and said it was going to proceed towards other group holdouts, including Anbar.
Also late July, Iraqi warplanes reportedly dropped millions of messages telling locals that liberation offensives for the province were nearing, and telling them to stay away from militants’ deployments.
2 ISIS officials die trying to get the hellout of Dodge
Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces killed Islamic State’s new mayor of Tal Afar town and the group’s area police chief on Wednesday while fleeing the enclave, a security source said.
Iraqi state run agency NINA quoted the source saying that army troops shot dead the so-designated mayor, Abu Fatema al-Jaafari, and the police chief, Zahed Khedr, along with six other companions while sneaking outside Tal Afar for an attack on the forces.
The agency also said the group executed 20 members late Tuesday for attempting to flee the town, and had formed special patrols to capture and execute runaway militants.
Tal Afar is 65 kilometers west of Mosul, and is home to a mixed Turkmen and Arab population. Iraqi forces recaptured Mosul, Islamic State’s former capital, early July after more than eight months of U.S.-backed offensives.
Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi and his defense officials have marked Tal Afar as their next target of anti-Islamic State action. Iraqi defense officials said recently that warplanes were carrying out raids on the enclave in preparation for the ground invasion which is yet to be scheduled.
Tal Afar has reportedly seen divisions among Islamic State leaderships, with occasional news telling of power conflicts and dissents among leaders, as well as attempts by some militants to flee the anticipated battle field.
Since Iraqi forces launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Mosul in 2016, paramilitary troops managed to isolate the town from the Syrian borders and from the rest of Nineveh.