SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi security forces launched a large-scale operation against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in three provinces on Wednesday, according to the Iraqi military.
Iraq’s Security Media Cell said the security forces along with Hashid al-Shaabi carried out a joint security operation in Baghdad, Anbar and Samarra in Saladin province.
“The operation is to cleanse those areas of ISIS terrorist gangs and to control and tighten the borders,” it said in a statement.
The operation came one day after Iraqi intelligence units detained 24 members of the militant group in Anbar province.
Recently, Iraqi forces have stepped up efforts to detain ISIS militants in the provinces of Kirkuk, Saladin, Nineveh, Anbar and Baghdad. The security forces have detained and killed dozens of ISIS members in the past weeks.
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December 2017 but the militants have regrouped in the Hamrin mountain range which extends into the northern provinces – an area described by officials as a “triangle of death”.
