Iraqi PM briefed by military on latest operation against ISIS

Kurdistan 24 2022/04/23 20:01

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi visiting headquarters of the Iraqi Army's Fifth Division in Anbar province's Ar-Rutba District, Apr. 23, 2022 (Photo: Security Media Cell/Twitter)

Iraq Mustafa al-Kadhimi ISIS ISF Peshmerga Operation Solid Will

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi was given a "detailed presentation" about the latest Iraqi operation against ISIS on Saturday, according to the military's Security Media Cell.

"The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mr. Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, arrived at the headquarters of the Fifth Division in Ar-Rutba District and listened to a detailed presentation on the second phase of Operation Solid Will by the Joint Operations Command and issued a number of directives regarding operations," the Media Cell tweeted.

"I salute you and strengthen your hands as you perform your duty," Kadhimi told his armed forces, according to the official Twitter account of the prime minister's media office.

Ar-Rutba District is located in Iraq's western Anbar province near the Jordanian border. ISIS remnants are still present in remote areas of that large sparsely-population province.

Iraq launched the second phase of Operation Solid Will on Saturday morning against ISIS remnants in Anbar, Saladin, and Nineveh provinces. Two Iraqi Federal Police officers were killed and two others injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated on the road they were driving on during the operation.

The US-led coalition applauded the latest Iraqi counter-terror operation.

"We applaud our #ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) partners & their efforts to promote peace & stability in the region," tweeted the coalition's official account.

We applaud our #ISF partners & their efforts to promote peace & stability in the region. Under the supervision of the JOC-Iraq, the ISF launched 2nd phase of anti-Daesh Op Willing Resolve in western Iraq, said @IraqiSpoxMOD. We remain committed to our #AdviseAssistEnable mission. https://t.co/XTNPTMCFYK
— Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) April 23, 2022

Iraq frequently carries out targeted airstrikes against ISIS hideouts in remote parts of Anbar, Diyala, Saladin, and Kirkuk provinces using its F-16 fighter jets.

Cooperation between the ISF and the Kurdish Peshmerga increased in the disputed territories, including Kirkuk, following a spate of deadly ISIS attacks last November.

All of these efforts aim to ensure ISIS's lasting defeat after it was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017 and deny the group any opportunity to make a resurgence.

In January, Prime Minister Kadhimi visited Qayyarah airbase in Nineveh to discuss security on the Syrian border with Iraqi Army commanders. That visit coincided with ISIS's well-coordinated attack aimed at releasing thousands of detained militants from al-Sina'a prison in northeast Syria's Hasakah province.

"I tell the ISIS terrorists, don't try us because you will fail," Kadhimi said during that visit. "You know very well that we are chasing after you inside and outside Iraq."

"You will pay for whatever stupidity you have committed."