BAGHDAD (Anadolu/Xinhua) – Iraq on Saturday launched a large-scale military operation against the Daesh terror group in five provinces, according to the defense ministry.
A ministry statement said the offensive targets Daesh remnants in the provinces of Anbar, Nineveh, Salah al-Din, Diyala and Kirkuk.
Forces from the army, border guards and the pro-government Hashd al-Sha’abi popular mobilization forces are taking part in the operation.
The first phase of the anti-Daesh operation took place last month, in which 19 Daesh hideouts and six tunnels were destroyed. A large cache of explosive materials was also seized, according to Iraqi authorities.
In 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh by reclaiming all territories the terrorist group controlled since the summer of 2014 which was estimated to be about a third of the country’s territory.
The group, however, still maintains sleeper cells in large areas in Iraq and occasionally launches sporadic attacks.
In a latest development in Iraq, two people were killed and seven others injured on Friday in two attacks in eastern province of Diyala, a provincial security source said.
A roadside bomb went off near a civilian car in a village near the city of Khanaqin, some 165 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, leaving two people killed and three wounded, officer Alaa al-Saadi from Diyala’s provincial police told Xinhua.
The Iraqi security forces cordoned off the explosion site and searched for attackers in the region, al-Saadi said.
Meanwhile, militants of the Daesh terrorist group launched an attack at dawn on Iraqi army outposts outside another village near Khanaqin, with four Iraqi soldiers wounded during the clash, al-Saadi said.