Iraqi forces recapture more Islamic State havens near Anbar’s Qaim
Qaim town’s gate
Qaim (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces recaptured more areas from Islamic State militants on Tuesday as operations continue to retake the group’s last bastions in western Anbar.
The Joint Operations Command’s War Media Cell said the forces recaptured several villages near the town of Qaim besides the town’s “phosphate factory”.
According to the statement, troops became 13 kilometers away from central Qaim.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared Thursday the launch of operations to clear the towns of Rawa and Qaim, Islamic State’s last havens on the borders with Syria.
Since Islamic State militants took over large areas of Iraq and Syria to establish a self-styled “caliphate” in 2014, Iraqi government forces, backed paramilitary troops and U.S.-led coalition, launched a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions.
So far, the offensives managed to retake Mosul, the group’s former capital, the town of Tal Afar, west of Nineveh, Kirkuk’s town of Hawija and Anbar’s Annah.
Local authorities and human rights agencies believe Islamic State members are holding tens of thousands of civilians in their western Anbar havens as future human shields, having killed hundreds for attempting to escape.
A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 196 civilians were killed, while 381 others were wounded due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of September.