Iraqi Popular Forces Fully Recapture Strategic Daesh-Held Town
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraqi volunteer forces, in a massive operation, managed to fully retake the Turkmen majority town of Bashir from Daesh terrorist group (also known as ISIL or ISIS), a commander of the operation said.
The Iraqi volunteer forces, known as Popular Mobilization Forces, fully cleared al-Bashir from Daesh terrorists on Saturday night, Abbas Abutabikh, the commander of Imam Ali (AS) Battalion, said in a statement.
He said that after a “heroic battle by the brave fighters” of Imam Ali (AS) and al-Abbas (AS) battalions against the Daesh militants, the town was liberated.
Pressure for an operation to recapture the town had grown in March after Daesh launched a chemical attack from Bashir on the nearby town of Taza that killed at least three children.
Bashir, which is a Turkmen town south of Kirkuk, had been under control of Daesh terrorists since June 2014.
Iraqi forces have managed to liberate key areas in the Arab country from the occupation of Daesh over the past months with the most notable being Anbar’s provincial capital of Ramadi.
Preparations are underway for the recapture of Fallujah, which is the second largest city in the sprawling province of Anbar.
The militants blitzed vast areas in western Iraq in summer of 2014 months after they captured territories in the north. Iraqi officials have vowed that they would purge Daesh from Iraqi soil in 2016.
