At Least 11 Killed in Attack on Popular Forces West of Baghdad
BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Eleven people were killed late Sunday after a attack by the Daesh terrorist group on a lookout point west of Baghdad manned by popular forces with Hashd al-Sha’abi also known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).
Security sources and medics told AFP the terrorists threw grenades and fired on the Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters stationed at Al-Radwaniyah, on the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital, near the Baghdad airport.
"Daesh attacked the monitoring tower, killing five members of the Hashd al-Sha’abi and six local people who had come to help repel the attack,” a security source said.
A medic confirmed the toll to AFP, and said eight wounded were transferred to a hospital in central Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces launched a major offensive to hunt down Daesh terrorists in a mountainous area in the northern part of Iraq’s Salahudin province, the Iraqi military said.
Iraqi forces, backed by aircraft, began an offensive in the morning to track down Daesh terrorists in the mountain ranges of Makhoul and Khanogah, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.
The first day of the several-day operation resulted in the seizure of 14 roadside bombs, rocket launchers, and 10 mortar rounds as well as finding two tunnels used by Daesh terrorists in the mountains, the JOC statement said.
The Iraqi and international aircraft conducted a series of airstrikes on Daesh positions in Makhoul and the nearby Khanogah mountain ranges in the northern part of Salahudin province, Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi forces said in a separate statement.
For his part, the JOC spokesman Tahsin al-Khafaji told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the Iraqi forces "pursued a new tactic through setting up towers and thermal cameras for surveillance to prevent the extremist militants from returning to the areas.”
The mountains and vast rural areas in Salahudin province have witnessed intense activities for the Daesh terrorists during the past months, despite repeated military operations to hunt them down.
Security sources and medics told AFP the terrorists threw grenades and fired on the Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters stationed at Al-Radwaniyah, on the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital, near the Baghdad airport.
"Daesh attacked the monitoring tower, killing five members of the Hashd al-Sha’abi and six local people who had come to help repel the attack,” a security source said.
A medic confirmed the toll to AFP, and said eight wounded were transferred to a hospital in central Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces launched a major offensive to hunt down Daesh terrorists in a mountainous area in the northern part of Iraq’s Salahudin province, the Iraqi military said.
Iraqi forces, backed by aircraft, began an offensive in the morning to track down Daesh terrorists in the mountain ranges of Makhoul and Khanogah, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.
The first day of the several-day operation resulted in the seizure of 14 roadside bombs, rocket launchers, and 10 mortar rounds as well as finding two tunnels used by Daesh terrorists in the mountains, the JOC statement said.
The Iraqi and international aircraft conducted a series of airstrikes on Daesh positions in Makhoul and the nearby Khanogah mountain ranges in the northern part of Salahudin province, Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi forces said in a separate statement.
For his part, the JOC spokesman Tahsin al-Khafaji told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the Iraqi forces "pursued a new tactic through setting up towers and thermal cameras for surveillance to prevent the extremist militants from returning to the areas.”
The mountains and vast rural areas in Salahudin province have witnessed intense activities for the Daesh terrorists during the past months, despite repeated military operations to hunt them down.