Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has highlighted the country’s victory in its fight against terrorism thanks to the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and other security forces, urging the entire world to follow suit and counter the grave menace.
“Iraq waged an all-out war against terrorism and extremism, and achieved a historic victory,” the ministry said in a statement.
In its statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry further called on all countries and organizations to start a serious and decisive fight against the global danger of terrorism and eradicate it so as to establish peace and security for the world’s nations.
“Iraq stands by whatever helps the fight against terrorism and the eradication of its roots and resources,” the statement added.
In June 2014 – when the Daesh terrorist group unleashed its campaign of terror and destruction in Iraq – top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a religious edict (fatwa) and called on his followers to rush to the national army’s help in the fight against the Takfiri outfit.
The fatwa helped bring together Shia fighters, Sunni tribesmen as well as Christian and Izadi volunteers under the umbrella of the PMU to reverse Daesh’s gains and ultimately end the terror group’s territorial rule in Iraq in late 2017.
Despite the end of Daesh’s so-called caliphate, its remnants are still active in Iraq and Syria, and launch terrorist attacks every now and then.
Terrorist bases destroyed in three provinces
In the latest day of anti-terror operations, the Iraqi security forces destroyed Daesh bases in three provinces of Diyala, al-Anbar, and Salahuddin, and arrested members of the group.
Thirteen regions north of Diyala, two regions south of Salahuddin, and two regions in al-Anbar were cleansed of terrorists, according to a Thursday statement by the Iraqi military.
In the Salahuddin operation, weapons, equipment, and explosives belonging to the terrorists were confiscated as well.
The number of Daesh elements arrested has not been announced.
Separately, the Iraqi police managed to arrest a man who distributed aid among the families of Daesh terrorists in Kirkuk, north of Iraq.
PMU finds five Daesh bases
Also the PMU, better known by its Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, managed to find five Daesh bases in al-Anbar province.
In this operation, codenamed ‘Labbayk Ya Rasoul-Allah’, some ammunition and medical equipment were seized.
Daesh remnants targeted in northern mountains
For the eighth consecutive day, the Iraqi joint security forces launched separate operations against Daesh bases, and dealt heavy blows to their remnants in the mountainous areas of northern Iraq.
The Iraqi army, federal police, and rapid reaction forces, backed by the Iraqi air force, continued to hunt down the remnants of Daesh in mountains of Salahuddin province.
In this operation, 56 hideouts, 45 underground tunnels, and 106 bombs belonging to Daesh were destroyed, and dozens of rocket launchers were found.