Iraqi army frees six villages from Islamic State in western Anbar
Iraqi army forces in Tal Afar, wsst of Nineveh.
Speaking to AlSumaria News, the source said, “the army’s seventh division managed to liberate villages of al-Bayda, al-Bowaiba, al-Jaabariya, al-Samma, Melili and al-Rumiya, west of Rawa town.”
The troops, according to the source, who preferred to remain anonymous, “freed the villages after IS militants escaped toward the desert.”
“Troops reached to the borders of Rawa ahead of invasion to free it,” he added.
On Sunday, Qutri al-Obeidi, a senior leader with al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), said in remarks that the militants fled all locations in Rawa and headed toward regions in south of Salahuddin, after the security troops declared intentions to invade the town in addition to airstrikes by army jets targeting the militants’ hideouts.
Last week, Hussein al-Okaidi, Rawa mayor, said the number of remaining Islamic State militants is estimated at no more than twenty members.
Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced, earlier November, the liberation of Qaim in record time. Troops also freed Ebeidi and Krabla regions in western Anbar.
Operations were launched, late October, to liberate Qaim and Rawa towns. Both have been held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic “Caliphate”.