Islamic State terrorist group has safe havens in al-Anbar

ISIS operatives have been using “safe havens” in different locations in al-Anbar as launchpads for many terrorist operations in the west of the Governorate, a senior official of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF) said on Tuesday.

In a statement to Shafaq News Agency, PMF’s Deputy Commander in al-Anbar Operations Command perations, Ahmed Nasrallah, said, “ISIS has carried out several terrorist operations in several locations in the west of Iraq because it has a safe haven there; most notably, Wadi Houran, and the territories located near Iraq’s borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, all the way to the Heet district, specifically al-Shamiyah.

“Some territories, affiliated with the Heet sub-district, near al-Jazeera, are also vital to ISIS because it allows them to move freely to the western desert. Via al-Jazeera, they can move toward al-Tharthar basin through to the eastern territories in Saladin.”

“The recent operations of ISIS, including attacks on security forces, planting explosive devices, and burning the vehicles of the security forces in al-Nakheeb territory near the Iraqi-Saudi borders, among others, have been deterred by the PMF in al-Anbar.”

“PMF Operations Command in al-Anbar carried out a major operation to pursue the organization fighters in the desert and western areas of al-Anbar. In the operations, one of the organization’s camp was destroyed near Wadi Houran, 11 ISIS operatives were neutralized, scores of its members were killed, their vehicles were burned, and their supplies were seized.”

“We detonated a group of explosive devices set to strike security targets in al-Heet, Anna, Rawa, and al-Rutba, and seized weapons,” he continued, “operations to track operatives are daily and relentless until securing the entire territory from the terrorist organization.”

Source: Shafaq News