Gov’t forces kill 6 Daesh militants in operation in northern Iraq

Iraqi security forces have killed six members of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in an operation in the northern oil-rich province of Kirkuk as they are joined by allied fighters from Popular Mobilization Units to purge the entire country from the extremists.

Captain Ahmed al-Jubouri said federal police forces carried out a search operation on Monday morning to clear the central part of Hawijah, located some 230 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, from possible Daesh remnants.

Jubouri added that security troopers came under small arms fire from some houses in the town during the operation, sparking heavy clashes that resulted in the killing of six militants.

He noted that government forces have so far managed to purge 75 percent of Hawijah from Daesh presence, stressing that efforts are underway to repatriate all local residents to their homes as soon as possible.

On December 9, 2017, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of military operations against the Daesh terrorist group in the Arab country.

“Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh,” Abadi told a conference in Baghdad then.

On October 5, Abadi said Iraqi armed forces had liberated Hawijah, driving Daesh Takfiris out of their last bastion in the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk.

On July 10, Abadi formally declared victory over Daesh extremists in Mosul, which served as the terrorists’ main urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden Arab country.

In the run-up to Mosul's liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters had made sweeping gains against Daesh.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January 2017 after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19 last year.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

Six Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters killed in militant ambush

Separately, six pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi, have been killed when a group of unidentified gunmen attacked their post in the eastern province of Diyala.

A local source told Iraq’s Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network that the assailant carried out the ambush in Hafair area south of the mountainous Hamrin region on Monday evening, and then fled the area.

The source added that the bodies of slain Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters have been transported to the provincial capital city of Baqubah, and search operations are underway to find out the whereabouts of the attackers.

Foreign Daesh militants’ children to undergo DNA tests

Meanwhile, Iraqi security sources, requesting anonymity, said around 100 children of foreign Daesh terrorists will undergo complicated biological tests to find their family members before repatriation to their homelands.

The sources added that Germany is coordinating along with the Iraqi government to conduct the DNA tests.

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