Iraqi fighters bombarded areas on borders between Syria

Iraq announced that its fighters launched air strikes on targets of the organization "Daash" within the Syrian territory near the borders of the two countries, for the first time since February. Meanwhile, the ambassadors of France and Turkey in Iraq, the rejection of their countries to the referendum of the Kurdistan region, Iraq and the territorial integrity of Iraq.

Iraqi warplanes bombarded Islamic State locations in Salahuddin province on Monday, killing a senior Islamic State security official, according to military media. The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said Rachid al-Mulla, head of the Islamic State’s security division in the eastern side of Salahuddin’s town of Shirqat, died when military jets bombarded his DhSk gun-supplied truck in Sedeira village.

Islamic State has lost tens of thousands of its foreign and local leaders since the Iraqi government, backed by a United States-led coalition and paramilitary troops, launched in 2016 a wide-scale campaign to retake areas the group had held since 2014. So far, the campaign has managed to recapture Mosul, Islamic State’s former capital in Iraq, early July and Tal Afar, a town west of Mosul, by the end of August.

Salahuddin province is among the next targets of Iraq’s anti-Islamic State military plans. The Iraqi Joint Operations Command had said its next target would be the town of Hawija, Islamic State’s enclave in southwestern Kirkuk. Preparations are also reported to retake the extremist group’s havens in western Anbar.

IS has waged occasional attacks on civilians and security inside Salahuddin and on the borders with Diyala province over the past months.

On its hand, United States artillery forces bombarded Islamic State militants locations in western Anbar on Monday as military mobilizations signal an imminent offensive targeting the region. A security source told Alghad Press that U.S. artillery pounded IS locations in Annah, Rawa and Raihaneh, adding that Iraqi security forces were moving towards the latter to recapture it.

“U.S artillery forces are currently stationed near the resistance line in al-Sakra to back up military troops in the liberation of western regions,” the source told the website. The United States has been leading an international military coalition that backed Iraqi forces in its campaign to recapture Islamic State-held areas since 2014.

Islamic State militants have held the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim, on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, since 2014, holding thousands of civilians there. Security reinforcements have reportedly been sent recently near those towns preparing for an attack against the group.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a statement congratulating the nation for the recapture of Akashat region, west of Anbar, in a “snap operation” which he said left hundreds of militants dead. While the Iraqi government said late August that its next target of anti-IS military action was Kirkuk’s Hawija, some officials were quoted saying that parallel operations in western Anbar could also be carried out.

Military intelligence has managed to arrest two Islamic State leaders in north and east of Ramadi, Anbar. Dijla news website reported on Sunday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, “military intelligence arrested Saleh Abdullah Juweir, an IS preacher in Hit city.

Moreover, the intelligence department announced arresting IS leaders in charge of repairing the group’s weapons in al-Sufia region, east of Ramadi. Previously on the day, troops also declared killing twenty members of the militant group, saying that the group’s booby-trapping expert was among those killed in airstrikes in Qaim

Iraqi joint troops managed on Saturday to liberate Akashat region, between Rutba town, on borders with Jordan, and Qaim, on borders with Syria. The militant group withdrew from the hours, few hours after an offensive was launched there, heading toward Qaim, with no resistance against the troops, a source said.

Anbar’s western towns of Anah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate. Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them. Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the international coalition regularly pound IS locations in the province.

On the political side, Ambassadors of France and Turkey to Iraq expressed their refusal to the referendum scheduled to be held to decide whether to provide Kurdistan region with independence or not. They raised the necessity of keeping the region as a part of Iraq, stressing the need for keeping the unity of the country.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterich called on the Kurdistan region to hold a dialogue with Baghdad, while advising the governments of Erbil and Baghdad to reach an agreement.
"I hope that the outstanding problems will be solved through dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad, because Iraq is at a critical stage now," Guterich said, calling for "Kurdistan to hold a dialogue with Baghdad."
"We advise governments, whether in Erbil or Baghdad, to reach an agreement," he said, adding that "I have great sympathy for the Kurdistan region and I have visited the region for several times, and I have relations with many Kurdish officials."
Amid the growing tension between the authorities of the region and the Iraqi central government, with the approach of the referendum, September 25, renewed the President of the Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani, his adherence to the voting on schedule.
In response to the decision of the Iraqi parliamentarians, on Tuesday, the rejection of the referendum and the assertion of illegitimacy, Barzani said that the parliament will not be able to break the will of the Kurdish people, as he put it