Iraqi PM meets commanders before anti-Daesh operation

BAGHDAD

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on Wednesday met with army commanders south of Mosul with whom he discussed ongoing anti-Daesh operations in the northern Hawija and Shirqat districts.

The Hawija and Shirqat districts, respectively located in Iraq’s Kirkuk and Saladin provinces, are seen as the Daesh terrorist group’s final redoubts in northern Iraq.

According to a statement issued by al-Abadi’s office, the prime minister “inspected the army’s ongoing preparations for purging areas east of the Tigris River [Shirqat] and in western Kirkuk’s Hawija district”.

Captain Saad Mohamed of the army’s Saladin Operations Command told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that U.S.-led coalition warplanes had targeted Daesh positions in western parts of Shirqat.

He went on to note that the army was fully prepared to launch a fresh push against Daesh in both districts and was now awaiting the prime minister’s order to do so.

The terrorist group still maintains a significant presence in Iraq despite a series of recently military defeats.

Last month, the group was driven from Tal Afar in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province. And in July, the city of Mosul -- once the capital of Daesh’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” -- fell to the army after a nine-month campaign.

Reporting by Arif Yusuf and Ali Jawad; Writing by Mahmoud Barakat