Iraq’s PMUs Launch Large-scale Op to Secure Diyala after Daesh Terrorist Attack

By Staff, Agencies

Iraq’s anti-terror Popular Mobilization Units [PMU], better known by Arabic name of Hashd al-Shaabi, launched a large-scale security operation to clear remnants of Daesh [Arabic acronym for ‘ISIS/ISIL’] terrorist group from villages and rural areas in the eastern province of Diyala.

The operation began following a deadly Daesh terrorist attack in the area.

Talib al-Mousawi, commander of PMU operations in Diyala, said in a statement that the multipronged anti-terror operation kicked off Sunday morning in the al-Azim district in Diyala province.

He added that intelligence, artillery and explosive disposal units participated in the campaign, which came after a flagrant attack by Daesh terrorists on an army barracks killed 11 Iraqi soldiers in their sleep in Diyala on early on Friday.

The commander emphasized that occasional attacks by Daesh terrorists against the Iraqi security forces only strengthen the resolve of the PMU forces to hunt the terrorists down and counter them everywhere.

Mousawi said the operation aims to tighten the grip on the Daesh terrorists still active on the eastern and western banks of al-Azim River, noting that the anti-terror forces would go ahead with the offensive despite the cold weather, rocky grounds and difficult conditions in meadows and wetlands.

Daesh attack against the PMU security forces would never break their determination to crush the terrorists, the commander added.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

The PMU played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army, which had initially suffered heavy setbacks in the face of Daesh gains.

Iraq declared victory over the terrorist outfit in December 2017 after a three-year counterterrorism military campaign, which also had the support of neighboring Iran.

Daesh’s remnants, however, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash a new era of violence.

The terrorist organization has intensified its attacks in Iraq since January 2020, when the United States assassinated top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and PMU’s deputy commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, near Baghdad International Airport.