SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi forces launch an anti-Islamic State (ISIS) operation in western Iraq on Sunday, the Iraqi military said in a statement.
Iraqi Security Media Cell said the security forces backed by the country’s air force launched “Operation Lions of al-Jazeera” to cleanse areas in west of the country.
The units included forces from al-Jazeera operations command, Saladin and Nineveh operations, according to the military.
“The aim of the operation is to search for terrorist elements in desert areas and destroy their hideouts,” the Iraqi military said.
The operation came one day after Iraqi counter-terrorism forces launched a large-scale operation against ISIS militants in north of Baghdad.
Head of Counter-Terrorism Service Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi said anti-ISIS operations would continue “until those involved in facilitating the entry of the terrorists who blew themselves up in Bab al-Shariq district in central Baghdad will be punished”.
Two men blew themselves up in a crowded Baghdad market on January 21, killing 32 people and wounding 110 other people.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on Jan. 22.
