Daesh attack kills 10 PMU forces in Iraq

At least 10 Iraqi fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have been killed in an ‎attack by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Iraq’s Salahuddin Province.‎

News ID: 450070

Date: 03 May 2020 - 13:06

RNA – ‎The coordinated assault which took place in the cities of Makishfah and Balad, led to clashes ‎between PMU forces and the Daesh terrorists on several fronts, the paramilitary group said ‎on Saturday.‎

The PMU further said its fighters have now taken control of the situation, adding the Iraqi ‎government has also sent reinforcements to supplement efforts and prepare for a possible ‎retaliatory attack.‎

Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi has paid tribute to families of those who ‎were killed, according to a statement circulated by Iraqi media.‎

‎“With great sadness, we received news of the martyrdom of a group of heroes from among ‎the PMU who died defending their homeland in the face of ISIL (Daesh) attacks in the ‎Makishfah and Balad areas north of Baghdad,” the statement said.‎

The PMU was formed by popular volunteer forces in 2014 after the Daesh terror group ‎launched a campaign of bloodshed and destruction against Iraq.‎

The group played a major role pushing back and ultimately defeating the terrorist forces ‎which had taken control of a large swathes of the Arab country.‎

The Iraqi parliament voted to integrate the PMU into the Iraqi military in 2016, effectively ‎placing the force under the command of the prime minister and granting the group a ‎standing similar to that of other branches of Iraqi security forces.‎

The combined push, which was reinforced by Iraq’s allies, including Iran, ultimately led to ‎Daesh’s expulsion in late 2017.‎

Daesh remnants, who conduct sporadic attacks against Iraqi security forces and civilians ‎alike with increasing regularity, attempt to regroup and wage a new era of its reign of terror ‎and destruction in the region.‎

Following the United States’ assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant ‎General Qasem Soleymani and PMU’s deputy commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the ‎capital city of Baghdad, Daesh has intensified its attacks in Iraq.‎

Meanwhile, the US and Israel have repeatedly attacked the positions of the PMU and its ‎affiliated groups and killed dozens of their members.‎

The PMU has long rejected Washington’s military presence in the country as an obstacle ‎impeding long-lasting security and stability in Iraq.‎

Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to take up arms against US forces if Washington fails to ‎comply with a parliamentary order calling for the expulsion of US troops following the ‎assassination.‎

The US-led military coalition has recently started evacuating its troops from a number of ‎bases in Iraq, handing the bases over to the Iraqi military.‎

The United States has also transferred its military equipment from Iraq to an area near the ‎Syrian city of al-Hasakah.‎

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