ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Seven hideouts belonging to the Islamic State (ISIS) were destroyed by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in western Anbar on Monday evening, according to the force’s media, as part of the newly-launched security operations targeting the militant group in the west of Iraq.
The PMF foiled an attempted ISIS attack in Anbar’s Akaz area on Monday, where a booby-trapped house was set to target the forces’ fighters. The house, along with seven other ISIS dens and hideouts were destroyed by the PMF during the security operation in the area, according to the force.
The third day of Operation Solid Will’s second phase also saw the PMF brigades destroying four ISIS hideouts in Eith area south of Salahaddin in two separate phases, as well as finding two other ISIS dens and detonating an explosive device in western Anbar. On Tuesday, a PMF commander in charge of operations in Anbar said the second phase of Solid Will was almost 75 percent complete.
Announced on Saturday, the newest phase of Operation Solid Will seeks to pursue and eliminate remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the western provinces of Iraq, and is conducted under the supervision of the Joint Operations Command with the participation of the Border Guard Command, PMF, Iraqi Special Forces, the Counter-Terrorism Service, and the Rapid Response division, a statement from the Iraqi Security Media Cell read.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted 28 attacks in Iraq from April 14 to April 20, killing and injuring 51 people.
