Iraqi Forces Kill 22 IS Militants In Anbar Province - Official

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2023) Iraqi security forces killed 22 members of the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia) in the western Anbar province, the head of the counterterrorism service said Sunday.

Abd al-Wahhab al-Saedi told a news briefing that "22 terrorists, including well-known leaders, were killed" in the operation that was planned in complete secrecy, according to the Iraqi News Agency.

The Islamists were traced to the westernmost Rutba region, a vast swathe of arid land that al-Saedi described as "complex and difficult to reach." He said most of the militants wore explosive belts.

The Iraqi military announced IS defeat in 2017, but the United Nations says the IS remains active in many pockets of the country, including in rural parts of Kirkuk, Salah Al-Din, Diyala, Nineveh and Anbar provinces.