Iraqi forces launched operation to cleanse Mutaibija

Commander of the Tigris operations, Lieutenant-General Mazhar al-Azzawi revealed the launch of a military campaign to cleanse Mutaibija and its surrounding areas in cooperation with the Iraqi fighter jets. Meanwhile, U.S Secretary of State expressed concern over Turkey’s air strikes against the strongholds of Kurdish forces in both Iraq and Syria.

Azzawi said that Fifteen Islamic State members were killed as Iraqi security forces, backed by paramilitary troops, launched Wednesday an operation to clear a border area between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces from Islamic State militants.

The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said a military offensive was launched early Wednesday to clear Mutaibija region and surrounding areas. The statement said forces partaking in the onslaught included army and police troops from provinces, as well as al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) and army air forces.

Shafaaq News quoted Jassem Jabbara, head of the security committee in Salahuddin province council, saying that 15 militants were killed while six vehicles belonging to the group were destroyed in the offensive.

Mutaibija has witnessed occasional attacks by Islamic State against government and paramilitary troops deployments since Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and PMus, launched a major offensive to retake areas occupied by IS since 2014, most notably the city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the group’s most important stronghold in the country.

Observers have said Islamic State’s occasional attacks against security and civilians outside Mosul aimed at distracting security attention from the Mosul front. IS still holds a few areas in Salahuddin, Diyala, Anbar and Kirkuk, but the Iraqi government, employing most of its military power in the Mosul campaign, is expected to aim at those strongholds once the battle in Mosul realizes victory.

On the political side, U.S Secretary of State expressed concern over Turkey’s air strikes against the strongholds of Kurdish forces in both Iraq and Syria. Spokesperson of U.S Department of State Mark Toner said, in press statements, “We feel increasing concern over the air strikes launched by Turkish air forces against the Kurdish troops in both Iraq and Syria without coordination with the U.S or International Coalition.” He added, “We expressed our concern to the Turkish government directly.”

On his hand, Turkish President Recep Tayeb Erdogan said, in press statements on Tuesday, that Turkey will not let northern Iraq's Sinjar region become a base for Kurdish PKK militants and will continue military operations there and in northern Syria until the last terrorist is eliminated.

He added, “"We are obliged to take measures. We must take steps. We shared this with the U.S. and Russia and we are sharing it with Iraq as well," Erdogan said in an interview in the presidential palace in Ankara. "It is an operation that (Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud) Barzani has been informed about."

Turkish planes bombed Kurdish fighters in Sinjar and in northeast Syria on Tuesday, in a widening campaign against groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Erdogan said he regretted the death of several members of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, also deployed in Sinjar, during the Turkish operation and made clear that Turkey's action was "absolutely not an operation against the peshmerga".