Iraq: 350 Daesh militants killed in Anbar operation

Baku. 10 March. REPORT.AZ/ Iraqi army seized control of large areas in Anbar province and killed 350 suspected Daesh militants within four days of its ongoing operation in the area, the Iraqi military said in statement late Monday.

According to the Iraqi army’s Military Operations Command, Iraqi armed forces launched an operation on al-Karma area four days back, which also destroyed 20 heavy machine guns and 20 vehicles; 382 improvised explosive devices were also dismantled, the statement added.

Major-General Qasem al-Mohammadi said that the Iraqi army, backed by al-Hashid al-Sha’bi Shia militia and the Iraqi air forces, took over al-Kanater and al-Rashad areas and three villages in eastern Falluja in al-Karma area.

Al-Karma police chief Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Ibrahim al-Halbousi and Daesh commander Wisam Hussein al-Ezzawi were also killed in clashes Monday, Major-General Kazem al-Fahdawi, Anbar’s police chief, told AA.

Abu Jasim Duleymi, a leading figure in Anbar’s Fallujah city, said Monday that the bodies of 103 suspected Daesh militants were taken to Fallujah General Hospital. Duleymi also said that the militant Daesh-controlled hospital received a total of 47 injured militants.

"Daesh buried the bodies of its militants in mass cemeteries in Fallujah and non-Iraqi doctors are treating the injured militants," he added.

The figures provided by the officials could not be independently verified because of limited access to free media in the region.

Clashes between Iraqi forces and Daesh have been ongoing since June 2014 when the armed group seized Mosul and other territories in Iraq.

Daesh is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist group.