Kirkuk Police Chief: Iraq trains forces to retake Hawija

Erbil, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Kirkuk Chief of Police, Sarhad Qader in an exclusive interview, told K24 on Monday that nearly eight hundred Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are ready to begin the operation to liberate the district of Hawija from Islamic State (IS).

Iraqi Commanders are preparing more than seven hundred and fifty ISF troops who have received two months training in Baghdad, and will soon dispatch them to Hawija, in southwest Kirkuk Province.

“We received training for the Italian military on how to use different kinds of weapons in Baghdad and now we are ready to move towards Hawija,” a member of one of the two regiments said.

The  regiments consist of the same Iraqi security forces that withdrew from Hawija in early June 2014, leaving the territory and weapons behind, which were taken by IS militants.

Another trainee told K24, “At the time, the circumstances made it impossible for us to resist. We were short of weapons and ammunition, and IS surrounded us from all sides. We trust in God and with the support of the Iraqi government and Peshmerga forces we will liberate Hawija and all other lands [occupied by IS].”

Although, the Ministry of Peshmerga has not made the final decision to participate in the Hawija operation, Peshmerga military commanders revealed repeatedly that it is time to recapture the district.

(Hemen Delo from Kirkuk Province contributed to this report.)