Iraqi troops on alert to dislodge IS militants from Wadi Hauran, says spox
Iraqi soldiers celebrate victory over Islamic State militants
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops are on high alert to liberate Wadi Hauran area from the Islamic State militants, a military commander said.
“Our units have cleared 50 percent of the total area of the desert of around 29,000 square kilometers (11,000 sq miles). The first phase is over,” Spokesman for the Joint Operations Command Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told AFP on Monday.
“Now, our units will proceed to clearing the rest of the desert zones, including Wadi (valley) Hauran,” he said.
“The valley is deep and reaches Syrian territory. The mission is to destroy all the hideouts in the desert and valleys to secure western Iraq’s border with Syria” before soldiers are posted along the frontier, he said.
Wadi Hauran, with 200-metre-deep (650-foot-deep), is the longest valley in Iraq, stretching on 350 kilometers (210 miles) from the Saudi border to the Euphrates River, also reaching the borders with Jordan.
The Islamic State group has controlled most of the valley in Anbar Province since 2014, setting up arms depots and resupply posts.
Troops and paramilitaries launched the desert offensive on Thursday aiming to inflict a final defeat on IS.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he will not proclaim victory until the IS militants have been cleared from the western desert bordering Syria.