PMF Commander Speaks of Closing Border with Syria as "Iraq's Strategic Objective"

Rasa - A senior commander of Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces) announced that the PMF forces are attempting to block Iraq's borders with Syria to prevent ISIL's traffic between the two countries.

News ID: 429627

Date: 13 May 2017 - 23:07

RNA - "Liberation of Qeirawan (near Mosul) was the second page of operations to retake Mosul and one of the goals pursued by the liberation of Qeirawan is imposing control and sealing the border with Syria to the ISIL," PMF Deputy Commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes told al-Mayadeen news channel on Saturday.

"Closing the borders to the ISIL is a strategic objective which serves Iraq's main goal that is annihilation of the ISIL," he added.

Al-Mohandes, meantime, underlined that the PMF forces will never enter the territories in Syria unless under an agreement between the Syrian and Iraqi leaders.

The PMF forces launched the second phase of multi-front operations, codenamed Mohammad Rasul Allah 2 to recapture areas West of Mosul in the early hours of Friday.

Hashd al-Shaabi launched a large-scale operation on Friday morning, hitting hard ISIL terrorists' last bastion Southwest of Tal Afar city in Northwestern Iraq.

The Hashd al-Shaabi, backed up by the country's Air Force, made their first push to capture the Nahiyah al-Qeirawan area on Friday, striking the ISIL's defense lines from two different directions.

Sources told local media on Thursday that the Iraqi Security forces made a new progress in fight against ISIL militants during the operations to capture the right bank of Mosul city.

The sources said sections of the Iraqi Army's 16th Division crossed the Tigris River and recaptured Mesherfa and Hawi al-Kanisa neighborhoods on the Western bank of Mosul, after inflicting heavy losses on ISIL.

The sources stated that these forces had destroyed ISIL tunnels and killed 4 suicide bombers.

They added that the forces had destroyed the terrorist group's ammunition and weapons depots.

847/940