Jurf al-Sakhr, an area in Babil province, is strategically located between Sunni insurgent strongholds in Anbar governorate and the Shiite holy city of Karbala.
Agence-France Presse (AFP) last week reported that Iraq’s Golden Brigade, Iraq’s most elite military unit, was unable to take in an operation that may have been backed by US airstrikes. The US military said it conducted airstrikes southwest of Baghdad without providing further details.
Iraqi security commanders and officials in Babil said they are making a third push for the town, in what is expected to be “the final stage of liberating the area from IS militants. The operation will be carried out from four fronts to enter the areas of Abed Wais, Al-Farsia, Hujayr, Ouesat and the city center, said Thamer al-Khafaji, adviser to Babil’s governor.
Khafaji told Rudaw, “Engineering units have opened secondary roads to enter these areas. They have dismantled more than 100 explosive devices (IEDs) and booby-trapped houses ahead of a raid on the town that will liberate areas where a number of IS snipers are positioned.”
A security source in Babil said a large military battalion has arrived in on the outskirts of Jurf al-Sakhr and said the Defense Ministry has sent in armored vehicles in preparation for the offensive.
The source said, “The army and Shiite militias have been mobilized and are stationed in several fronts in Al-Fadhila area, in preparation to storm Abed Wais and other areas controlled by IS in Jurf al-Sakhr. Another force will push into the areas of Al-Farsia and Hujayr to drive out the militants.”
Falah al-Khafaji, security chief in Babil governorate, said the fighters were prepared with beefed up armory and intelligence to “launch an attack on terrorist sites, destroying them and their morale.”
Jurf al-Sakhr is considered one of the most unstable parts of Iraq. The town and its larger district have witnessed heavy fighting between IS and Iraqi government forces for months.
