Iraq starts 2nd phase of anti-Daesh operations in Kirkuk

Iraqi forces on Friday recaptured four villages and cut a supply route used by Daesh terrorists in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk, according to an Iraqi military source.
“Federal Police units and the Hashd al-Shaabi [a unit of the Iraqi army] have liberated the villages of Al-Awasi, Hamad al-Suwaid, Al-Amoudiya and Ghareeb al-Alkaya in Kirkuk’s Hawija district,” Army Captain Jabbar Hassan said.
Security forces, he added, had also secured the Shamit Bridge — which had earlier served as a Daesh supply line — in Hawija’s northwestern Abbasi area.
“Control of the bridge is strategically necessary to guarantee the movement of military equipment into the Abbasi area,” Hassan said.
Police Lieutenant Suhail al-Nasseri told Anadolu Agency that “fierce clashes” had taken place between Federal Police units and Daesh militants in Abbasi.
The terrorist group, al-Nasseri said, had “used booby-trapped vehicles and rockets in an effort to halt our advance”.
Earlier Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launch of the second phase of ongoing operations aimed at recapturing Hawija.
In a televised statement, al-Abadi had vowed to “liberate every inch of Iraq and crush the Daesh terror gangs once and for all”.