Iraqi forces to attack ISIS in west Salahadin

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi Army and Shiite militias are planning to recapture the remaining ISIS-held areas in western Salahadin province, the provincial government announced on Thursday.

“The Iraqi army and Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Units] are gearing up to launch a decisive assault against ISIS militants to clear the remaining areas between the Anbar and Salahadin province of the ISIS extremists,” the Salahadin province media office told Rudaw.

In a separate announcement, Mohammed Abbas, a Hashd al-Shaabi military commander said in a press conference: “Dozens of ISIS militants have been killed over the last week in Baiji and northern Tikrit, and unknown number of the militants have fled to the western areas of Salahadin province, especially, the areas of Saed Gharib and Rafiaat.”

Abbas added: “The bomb-disposal teams of the Iraqi Defense Ministry have defused some 128 landmines and bombs in houses in the newly liberated areas in the Salahadin province.”

In early march, ISIS militants fled areas around Tikrit in Salahadin province as Iraqi joint forces fought to capture the province.  Some areas of the province, notably in the west, are known to still have a heavy ISIS presence.