Iraqi army combed over 170 villages between Nineveh & Anbar

Iraqi joint troops have managed to comb over 100 villages, declaring the end of the first part of second phase of the Upper Euphrates and Al-Jazirah Combing Operations, the military media said.
“Army, Federal Police and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), backed by military jets, concluded the first part of second phase of the operations,” the War Media Cell said in a statement. “Troops managed to comb the villages and regions falling between south of Hatra and north of Rawa.”
“Our forces were able to comb 175 villages, five bridges and crossings as well as an airport on an area of 14,100 square kilometers,” it said, adding that “huge losses in equipments were inflicted.”
Moreover, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah announced combing four villages in north of Rawa on an area of 740 square kilometers. In a statement, Yarallah said, “troops combed villages of al-Hamima, Leheiji, al-Beghelein and Aluta, northeast of Rawa.” Combing operations are still ongoing, he added.
The Joint Operations Command announced on Saturday that only fifty percent of the regions between Salahuddin and Anbar provinces were liberated. At least 15 Islamic State members were killed in airstrike by the U.S.-led Coalition jets in the western desert, the War Media Cell said in a statement.
Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said his country defeated Islamic State over the military level, but will declare final victory after desert areas are purged of militants.
On security level, Over 8,500 people were arrested in Nineveh on suspicion of joining Islamic State since the liberation of the proin August. The arrests were made upon accurate intelligence information and tip-offs from citizens, a security source told Baghdad Today on Sunday.
“Also, 100 people were ordered to be executed by specialized courts in the governorate on the same charge,” he concluded. In August, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that Nineveh province has been “fully liberated” from Islamic State, after the district of Tal Afar was re-captured.
Abadi’s announcement followed the defeat of the militant group in the town of Ayadiya, where the militants had fled to from Tal Afar. The group has suffered a string of territorial losses in recent months. “Our happiness is complete, victory has arrived and the province of Nineveh is now entirely in the hands of our forces,” a statement from the prime minister said.
The Iraqi government launched an operation to retake Tal Afar on 20 August involving some 50,000 personnel from the army, air force, federal police, special forces and the Shia Muslim-led paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces. IS militants seized control of much of Nineveh, including the provincial capital of Mosul, in June 2014. Victory was declared in the city in July.
On the other hand, Iraq was involved in an “unconventional world war” against terrorism, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said.
During a meeting with Romanian Minister of Education Livio Pop in Bucharest, Jaafari said, “The anti-terror war has not started in Iraq, and it might not end there.”
“Iraqi troops have made great sacrifices in their fight against terrorism, which targets the whole world,” he said, adding that the unity of the Iraqi people has been the main reason for the great victory over terrorist groups in the country.
“Islamic State militants, who came from over 124 countries, are capable of carrying out more terrorist attacks in other states,” he pointed out.
“IS gangs have adopted an ideology to recruit children and spread the culture of murder and destruction everywhere,” he said, calling on the international community to stand up to this terrorist plot and fund the reconstruction of IS-liberated areas in Iraq as soon as possible.
Pop, meanwhile, stressed his country’s support for Iraq in its fight against terrorism and voiced his keenness to boost cooperation with Baghdad in the field of education.
He also welcomed Iraqi students, who seek to study at the Romanian universities, saying that he is ready to increase the number of scholarships offered to them.
“Romania is ready to give a push to the field of technical and vocational education in Iraqi,” he concluded.
At the end of the meeting, Jaafari invited the Romanian minister to visit Baghdad soon to probe means of boosting prospects of cooperation between the two countries.