Iraq PM orders assigning of rapid intervention troops in Anbar: commander
Tribal fighters carry their weapons as they take part in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants in the town of Amriyat al-Falluja,in Anbar province, October 31, 2014. Picture taken October 31, 2014. REUTERS
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered to form rapid intervention squads in the western province of Anbar as confrontations with militants seem to recur over the recent period.
IkhNews website quoted Qatari al-Obaidi, a senior commander of the tribal mobilization forces in Anbar, saying Wednesday that Abadi, the supreme commander of the armed forces, made directives to form four rapid intervention regiments of the force to assist in security work alongside government troops.
According to Obaidi, the regiments will consist of 600 fighters each, will receive training by government forces and will be supplied with modern arms and combat vehicles. He noted that “the new squads will answer to the prime minister and subordinate security officials, and will be tasked with preserving security against Islamic State militants”.
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State militants late last year, ending a three-year war against the militant group. Anbar’s town of Rawa, near the borders with Syria, was the last IS stronghold seized back by the Iraqi forces.
But despite the declaration of the end of IS’s territorial influence, several confrontations occurred between remnant militant cells, including at Anbar’s borders with Syria.