Iraqi troops control 20 villages in Kirkuk’s Hawija

A civilian was killed, while four others were wounded as two bomb blasts took place in south and east of Baghdad, a security source was quoted saying on Friday. “Four citizens were wounded as an IED, planted near a market in Sayyid Abdullah region in al-Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, exploded,” the source told Baghdad Today.

Moreover, “A lawyer was killed after being profoundly injured as bomb exploded under his car in Husseiniyat al-Rashidiya, east of Baghdad.” Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 297 Iraqis, were killed and injured due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of ِAugust. Baghdad was the most affected province with 45 deaths and 135 injuries.

The capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016. While most of of the explosions and attacks went without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State has claimed several incidents. Despite the group’s defeat in its main havens across Iraqi provinces, observers believe the group may still constitute a security threat.

On the military side, Iraqi joint troops have managed to recapture twenty villages from Islamic State’s grip, in Hawija, Kirkuk, concluding the first phase of the offensive, military said.

“Federal Police, Rapid Response, army brigades and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), liberated twenty villages in Hawija,” Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, commander of Hawija Operations, said on Thursday.

According to Yarallah, Iraqi troops managed to conclude the first phase of operations, which started early on the day.

During a joint press conference with Ryan Dillon, spokesman of the U.S.-led coalition against IS, on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said the number of Islamic State members in Hawija falls between 800 and 1500.

Earlier on the day, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and Lt.Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, deputy commander of the Joint Operations Command announced launch of first phase of operations to liberate Hawija and western Shirqat. Several villages in Shirqat have been retaken.

Hawija and other neighboring regions, west of Kirkuk, have been held by IS since mid-2014, when the group emerged to proclaim an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. Other offensives were launched earlier this week at the group’s havens in western Anbar’s borders with Syria.

In the same context, The pro-government paramilitary troops have pounded an Islamic State gathering of meeting on borders between Iraq and Syria, the media service said.

In a statement on Thursday, al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said, “artillery of the first brigade shelled an IS gathering south of Tal Sufuq, on borders between Iraq and Syria.”

“Huge losses in lives and equipment were inflicted on the enemy due to shelling,” the statement said adding that the militant group tries to attract attention to ease pressure on militants in western Shirqat.

Earlier on the day, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy PMFs commander, said, “military operations carried out by the troops in cooperation with security services will take place through two stages; first one at western Shirqat, north of Tikrit, while the second at Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.”

PMF announced earlier liberating five villages in northeast of Shirqat and killing several militants hiding at houses there. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and Lt.Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, deputy commander of the Joint Operations Command announced on Thursday launch of first phase of operations to liberate Hawija and western Shirqat.

The Iraqi army said in September its forces recaptured the western coast of Shirqat, located south of Mosul, on the west bank of the Tigris river, after being surrounded for months by Iraqi troops and the pro-government Shi’ite militias. The eastern coast of Shirqat, is still under the IS control.