Iraqi Troops Gun Down Daesh Forces in Hawija Operation

TEHRAN (defapress) – More than 40 members of Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group were killed and several others captured by the Iraqi forces in an operation to clear the remnants of terrorists in Hawija district, west of Kirkuk.

News ID: 67919

Date: 05 January 2018 - 12:26

During the first day of a major military operation to cleanse the Hawija District of Daesh terrorists, the Iraqi Army forces, backed by the voluntary forces (known as the Popular Mobilization Units or Hashid al-Shaabi), shot down more than 40 terrorists hidden in an inn in al-Abbasi region, Alsumaria News quoted a local officials as saying on Thursday.

Ten Daesh members were also in the operation in the district, 50 southwest of Kirkuk.

The Iraqi military forces, led by the 9th Armored Division, have begun an operation to clear remaining pockets of Daesh around the northern city of Kirkuk.

A Hashid al-Shaabi spokesperson has announced that the operation targets Daesh “sleeper cells” in Hawija, Mount Hamrin and Zarga areas and as far south as Salahuddin Governorate, The Defense Post reported.

Survivors of Daesh continue to carry out sporadic terrorist attacks in Iraq, although the self-proclaimed caliphate of the terrorist group fell in November 2017.

Daesh seized control of large parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014, declaring a cross-border caliphate and committing widespread atrocities.

Iraqi forces gradually retook control of all territory lost to the group over the last three years. Experts warn that ISIL remains a threat, with the capacity as an insurgent group to carry out high-casualty bomb attacks using sleeper cells.