UPDATED: army kills 25 Islamic State militants in Anbar, civilians flee
Displaced families. Archival photo.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army forces killed 25 Islamic State militants in western Anbar on Thursday, while 17 civilian families managed to flee militants-held areas, military media and security sources in the province was quoted saying.
The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said army warplanes, depending on intelligence tips, bombarded IS locations west of the province, killing 25. The statement did not name the targeted location, though.
Aljournal News website quoted a security source in the province saying that more than 17 families fled Islamic State havens in the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim, near the western borders with Syria, towards security deployments in the city of Rutba.
The source said the civilians seized the opportunity of chaos which struck the group there as many leaders fled those pockets. He added that they were thoroughly vetted to make sure no militants had hidden among them.
The families were transferred to a camp at the Kilo 18 area, according to the source.
Islamic State militants have held the three towns 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 by government forces and allied Popular Mobilization Forces have managed to take over several surrounding villages.
IS has been notorious for executing civilians trying to flee its strongholds.
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. Government troops are currently battling Is out of Tal Afar, west of Nineveh.
Late July, Iraqi army warplanes reportedly dropped millions of messages on western Anbar telling locals that liberation offensives for the province were nearing, and advising them to stay away from militants’ deployments.
Anbar’s borders with Syria had seen occasional encounters between security forces and Islamic State militants.