BAGHDAD — Iraq’s security and paramilitary forces began Sunday a military operation along the border with Syria aimed at clearing the area of Islamic State group militants, the military said in a statement.
Although Iraq declared victory against ISIS in July 2017, the extremists have turned into an insurgency and have carried out deadly attacks in the country.
The military said the operation that began at sunrise was being carried out by Iraqi troops and members of the Popular Mobilization Forces that largely consist of Iran-backed militias.
RELATED
Iraq’s government moved Monday night to control powerful Iran-backed militias in the country, placing them under the full command of the Iraqi armed forces.
It said the operation will last several days and was the first phase of the Will of Victory Operation securing the western province of Anbar and the central and northern regions of Salahuddin and Nineveh.
“We press on the hands of our heroic forces that will achieve victory with the will of its heroes against the gangs of Daesh,” said Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi using an Arabic acronym to refer to ISIS. “May God protect you and make you victorious.”
ISIS once held large parts of Syria and Iraq where it declared a caliphate in 2014. The extremists lost in March the last territory they controlled in Syria.
The governor of Okinawa is calling for further reduction of the U.S. military presence there amid growing fear of regional military tension.
The aid is part of the $40 billion in security and economic assistance passed last month by Congress.
Russian operatives conducted physical and virtual “wiper attacks” on computer networks in Ukraine - attempting to delete all stored government information. Yet the data survived.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is meeting with his senior military officials to discuss national defense policies.
Lithuania imposed a ground transit ban of EU sanctioned Russian goods through its territory that will block half of all goods coming into the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast.
Up to 40,000 Army National Guard soldiers haven't yet gotten the mandated COVID-19 vaccine.
The World War II Navy destroyer has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers.
After learning of an upcoming deployment, the soldier began passing information he learned to members of 09A as he proposed and planned a deadly attack on his fellow troops, authorities said.
The C-17 crew brought in special ops to rescue Americans on the ground, evacuated Afghans in danger and transported the remains of U.S. troops.
The female airman faces about another year of advanced skills training before she is assigned to an operational unit.
Load More