Iraqi forces on Wednesday invaded two villages east of the town of al-Qaim, west of Anbar, as operations approach the recapture of  Islamic State’s last  holdouts in Iraq. A security source told Alghad Press that Iraqi forces invaded the villages of Fayadiya and Jreijeb in Karableh, east of Qaim.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared earlier this month the launch of operations to clear the towns of Rawa and Qaim, Islamic State’s last havens on the borders with Syria. Since Islamic State militants took over large areas of Iraq and Syria to establish a self-styled “caliphate” in 2014, Iraq government forces, backed a U.S.-led coalition, launched a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions.

So far, the offensives managed to retake Mosul, the group’s former capital, the town of Tal Afar, west of Nineveh, Kirkuk’s town of Hawija and Anbar’s Annah. Abadi promised Tuesday to clear Qaim from IS members within days.

Local authorities and human rights agencies believe Islamic State members are holding tens of thousands of civilians in their western Anbar havens as future human shields, having killed hundreds for attempting to escape.

A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 196 civilians were killed, while 381 others were wounded due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of September.

In the same context, A security personnel was killed, while another was wounded in confrontations with suicide attackers in Tikrit island, Salahuddin, a security source said.

“Security troops clashed on Tuesday evening with two suicide attackers wearing suicide belts in Tikrit island, as they were trying to sneak into Tikrit to carry out terrorist crimes,” the source told AlSumaria News. Security forces managed to kill the attackers, according to the source, who preferred anonymity.

“Confrontations left one personnel killed and the other wounded,” he added. Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 196 civilians were killed, while 381 others were wounded due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of September. The fatalities included 10 foreign nationals. Baghdad was the most affected province with 37 deaths and 157 injuries. Dhi Qar province came in the second place with 82 killed and 93 injured. Anbar came in the third place with 20 killed and 46 injured.

The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016.

On political side, Iraq's Prime Minister demanded Thursday that Kurdish leaders cancel the results of its independence referendum, rejecting a proposal from Erbil to "freeze" the outcome instead and begin talks over the future of the region.

Speaking from the Iranian capital of Tehran, Haider al-Abadi said the Kurdistan Regional Government, which administers the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, must comply with the country's constitution. "We accept only the cancellation of the referendum and the adherence to the constitution," Abadi said Thursday.