Members of the pro-government Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), known as Hashd al-Sha'abi in Arabic, have managed to cleanse a number of villages in the country’s western province of Anbar during the fourth phase of a major offensive to hunt down remnants of the terrorist group of Daesh. RNA - The media bureau of Hashd al-Sha’abi announced in a statement on Saturday that the 13th and 19th brigades of the volunteer forces had cleansed five villages south of al-Qa'im district, located nearly 400 kilometers northwest of the capital Baghdad and near the Syrian border, of Daesh extremists.
The statement added that the pro-government fighters had reached the village of Badr al-Dorraj, emphasizing that Hashd al- Sha’abi forces, together with bomb disposal units, were making advances in Wadi Hauran desert region.
Hash al-Sha’abi forces later purged Badr al-Dorraj of the last pockets of Daesh Takfiris, and arrived at Abu al-Shandoukh village to flush out the terrorists there.
Earlier in the day, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced the start of the fourth phase of the Will of Victory Operation to defeat Daesh militants in the country’s western deserts.
The media office of the Joint Operations Command said in a statement that the latest phase of the operation will end Daesh’s presence in Anbar province.
The operation incorporates various domestic forces, including the Anbar Operations Command, al-Jazira Operation Command, federal police, the army, the Popular Mobilization Units, Border Guard Command, the Iraqi Air Force, and the US-led coalition purportedly fighting Daesh.
A statement by the media office of the Joint Operations Command said on August 5 that the Iraqi army, police and Hashd al-Sha’abi units, backed by the Iraqi Air Force fighter jets, had launched the third phase of the Will of Victory Operation in the eastern Diyala province and Nineveh province in the north.
The statement said the troops had begun search operations in rural areas near the towns of Miqdadiyah, Jalawla and Khanaqin in Diyala province.
Also in Nineveh province, the troops commenced an operation to clear the rugged areas of al-Atshanah and the mountain ranges of Badush and Sheikh Ibrahim in west and northwest of the provincial capital city of Mosul.
The second-in-command of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah, said in a statement on July 20 that Iraqi military forces had launched the second phase of the Will of Victory Operation to hunt down Daesh remnants north of Baghdad and areas nearby.
It said that units from the Baghdad Operations Command, command operations from Diyala, Samarra and Anbar, the Federal Police Command, rapid response teams, Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters and the special forces regiment of the Operations Department of the Chief of Staff of the Army as well as the Special Task Force of the Directorate of Military Intelligence were participating in the offensive.
Iraq's army and the voluntary forces began the first phase of the Will of Victory Operation early on July 7, the military said in a statement, adding that the operation was aimed at securing the province of Anbar and the central and northern regions of Salahuddin and Nineveh.
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