ISIL THE TARGET

Euphrates Valley villages liberated from militants by pro-government forces

Iraq government steps up moves to clear Anbar province of militants,

BAGHDAD // The Iraqi government began to dislodge ISIL militants from the country’s western Anbar province yesterday as it launched a long-awaited, large-scale military operation on the extremists.

The operation started at dawn and government forces were backed by Shiite and Sunni pro-government fighters, said a spokesman for the joint operations command, Brig Gen Yahya Rasool. He did not say whether the US-led international coalition was taking part.

Iraqi forces yesterday managed to retake two villages in the Euphrates Valley in Anbar.

“The security forces were able to advance and liberate the areas of Albu Shijil and Shiha near Khaldiyah, between Saqlawiya and Ramadi,” an army lieutenant colonel said.

This is not the first time Iraq has announced an operation to retake Anbar – where several key towns, including the provincial capital, Ramadi, remain under ISIL control.

In May, authorities also announced an operation to retake Ramadi, but there had not been any major progress on the ground since then.

Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi has vowed to “take revenge from Daesh criminals on the battlefield, and their cowardly crimes against unarmed civilians will only increase our determination to chase them and to expel them from the land of Iraq”.

ISIL seized large parts of Anbar early last year and captured Ramadi in May.

Iraqi forces, which had been making progress against the extremists with the help of the air campaign, scored a victory in recapturing Tikrit in April.

During the past few weeks, the troops have been moving to cut the militants’ supply routes and to surround and isolate Ramadi and Fallujah.

Meanwhile, yesterday, ISIL claimed responsibility for a series of bombings on Sunday in Shiite areas of Baghdad that killed 29 and wounded 81.

The blasts were carried out in Shiite neighbourhoods of Baghdad, with several detonated by suicide bombers, according to police and medical sources.