Iraqi Forces Launch Anti-Daesh Operation Near Baghdad
BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Iraqi security forces on Monday launched an operation to hunt down Daesh terrorists in one of their major hideouts in Salahuddin province, a provincial police source said.
Iraqi army and police forces pushed in the morning into Jazrat Ganous, an agricultural area covered with dense plants near the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the capital Baghdad, Mohammed al-Bazi told Xinhua.
The operation started with a heavy aircraft and artillery bombardment to pave the way for the troops to build a bridge over the adjacent Tigris River to hunt down the terrorists and destroy their hideouts, al-Bazi said.
On Saturday, unidentified assailants kidnapped 12 people from a village in Salahuddin and executed eight of them, a provincial police source said.
The heavily armed terrorists, disguised in security uniform, entered al-Farhatiyah village near the town of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, and kidnapped 12 villagers to an unknown destination, al-Bazi said.
Later in the day, the police found handcuffed bodies of eight of the kidnapped villagers with bullet holes in their heads and chests, said al-Bazi.
In reaction to a massacre, Iraq’s prime minister said on Sunday his country would not allow the return of sectarian violence.
Mustafa al-Kadhimi arrived in the province on Sunday alongside Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari and Falih Alfayyadh, who is the chairman of the Hashd al-Sha’abi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror force.
The Iraqi prime minister visited the crime scene and met with the bereaved families, promising them that the atrocity would be fully investigated. He also informed the survivors that a number of the perpetrators had been placed in detention.
He vowed in a tweet that the murderous criminals would be punished. "There is not going to be any return to sectarian conflict or enmity among Iraqis towards one another for political purposes.”
"We have put this stage behind us, and will never go back to it,” the premier remarked.
The vast rural areas in Salahuddin province have witnessed intense activities by foreign-backed Daesh terrorists during the past few months.
In 2003, the United States and its allies invaded the country under the banner of fighting a "war on terror” based on allegations that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. The allegations were later proven wrong.
Iraqi army and police forces pushed in the morning into Jazrat Ganous, an agricultural area covered with dense plants near the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the capital Baghdad, Mohammed al-Bazi told Xinhua.
The operation started with a heavy aircraft and artillery bombardment to pave the way for the troops to build a bridge over the adjacent Tigris River to hunt down the terrorists and destroy their hideouts, al-Bazi said.
On Saturday, unidentified assailants kidnapped 12 people from a village in Salahuddin and executed eight of them, a provincial police source said.
The heavily armed terrorists, disguised in security uniform, entered al-Farhatiyah village near the town of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, and kidnapped 12 villagers to an unknown destination, al-Bazi said.
Later in the day, the police found handcuffed bodies of eight of the kidnapped villagers with bullet holes in their heads and chests, said al-Bazi.
In reaction to a massacre, Iraq’s prime minister said on Sunday his country would not allow the return of sectarian violence.
Mustafa al-Kadhimi arrived in the province on Sunday alongside Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari and Falih Alfayyadh, who is the chairman of the Hashd al-Sha’abi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror force.
The Iraqi prime minister visited the crime scene and met with the bereaved families, promising them that the atrocity would be fully investigated. He also informed the survivors that a number of the perpetrators had been placed in detention.
He vowed in a tweet that the murderous criminals would be punished. "There is not going to be any return to sectarian conflict or enmity among Iraqis towards one another for political purposes.”
"We have put this stage behind us, and will never go back to it,” the premier remarked.
The vast rural areas in Salahuddin province have witnessed intense activities by foreign-backed Daesh terrorists during the past few months.
In 2003, the United States and its allies invaded the country under the banner of fighting a "war on terror” based on allegations that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. The allegations were later proven wrong.