ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A new security operation targeting Islamic State (ISIS) remnants has been launched in Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, announced by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in a visit to the area on Monday.
It is the second operation to be launched in as many weeks, with the first launched on August 14.
Kadhimi visited Tarmiyah’s military operations command on Monday, meeting with security officials and tribal leaders.
During the visit, the PM said the fight against terror is a “collective responsibility” and requires cooperation between both security forces and civilians.
Kadhimi’s military spokesperson Yehia Rasool announced the start of the operation on Twitter, and said additional forces will be sent to Tarmiyah.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, but remains a threat on both sides of the border, carrying out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
Tarmiyah is vulnerable to ISIS attacks, with four soldiers killed in an IED explosion in the district in May. A security source blamed the attack on the terror group.
Five ISIS militants were killed in an ambush in Tarmiyah in February.
An hideout used by ISIS sleeper cells was destroyed in the area on Thursday.
