The pro-government Shia-led paramilitary forces have denied news that troops will not participate in Tal Afar liberation saying they will be actively engaged in the battle. “Based on instructions from the commander in chief of the armed forces, al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Units] will be actively engaged in Tal Afar liberation battle alongside with the security and armed forces,” Ahmed al-Assadi, PMUs spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

Assadi denied news that troops will not take part in the battle, saying that “the official stance of al-Hashd al-Shaabi is decided by either the chief, his deputy or the official spokesperson.” On Thursday, Senior PMUs official Jawad al-Tulaibawi said troops will not take part in the battle citing local and international pressures.

Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said all security forces including tribal mobilization fighters and PMUs will take part in Tal Afar liberation. In May, Jawad al-Tulaibawi, PMU official, revealed Abadi’s refusal of the troops participation in Tal Afar liberation.

The Iraqi army’s ninth armored division reportedly arrived earlier this week to boundaries of the town after arrangements were declared to be concluded ahead of the invasion. An army official was quoted on Monday as saying that an army division was ordered to leave Mosul toward Tal Afar within preparations to retake the town, which has been set as the next target of operations after victory was declared in Mosul on July 10.

Eleven Islamic State militants were killed, while two others were arrested in a joint military operation in Anbar desert, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell declared.

Jazeera Operations Command, along with the Tribal Mobilization Forces carried out two military operations from two directions,” the WMC said in a statement on Thursday. “The first direction started from the desert toward Anah town. Troops reached to three kilometers away from Anah. The second direction started from the desert toward Anah then to the main road reaching to Rawa town. Troops reached to three kilometers away from Rawa.”

“Eleven militants were killed, three motorbikes, a booby-trapped vehicle, booby-trapping workshop and three rest houses were destroyed. Twenty-two bombs were defused, while two IS members were arrested,” the statement added indicating that the operations lasted for two days.

Earlier on the day, news reports said fifteen paramilitary personnel of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) were killed as IS militants attacked defense line in Okashat region in western Anbar.

Anbar’s western towns of Anah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate. Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them.

In the same context, A civilian was killed and seven others were wounded in two separate explosions in Baghdad on Thursday, according to Iraq Gate News.

A security source told Iraq Gate News that two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) exploded today in western and southern Baghdad, leaving one dead and seven others injured.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source added that a security force arrived to the explosion scene and cordoned it off. The two injured were taken to a nearby hospital and the body was taken to the forensic medicine department.

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.

Bombings and armed attacks are seen on almost a daily basis against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016.

More than 500 Iraqis were killed and injured during July due to violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

On the political side, leader of Kurdistan Masoud Barzani said that the referendum is a democratic process which is a practice for self-determination. All parties are obliged to respect the will of the people. There will be people who vote yes and there will be people voting no, both are acceptable in a democracy and the majority vote needs to be respected by all components of government. Examples of recent a referendum has been the Brexit one, which resulted in a very narrow margin between the yes and no votes.

Source: BNA