“ISIL [IS]militants moved with a group of armored vehicles and tanks from Hit [Hiit] city while taking Al-Jazeera road [in Anbar province] and managed to trap 450 fighters after controlling the Mahbubiya and Gurna areas[of the province],” a source told the news agency Thursday under the condition of anonymity.
According to Anadolu, Iraqi armed forces started a military operation against IS in Anbar on Thursday morning with the aim of retaking Hiit. The pro-government tribal fighters supported the armed forces in their operation.
The IS extremist militant group has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012 and has declared a caliphate on the territories it has captured across eastern Syria as well as northern and western Iraq. The extremist militant group has been performing public crucifixions, beheadings and hostage-taking among other atrocities.
The US-led international coalition against the militant group has been performing airstrikes on IS targets in Syria and Iraq, but is not involved in ground military operations.
