Dozen terrorists killed in northern Iraq as resistance fighters strike Daesh positions

It occurred when the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), an umbrella organization composed of Iraqi resistance groups, launched barrages of artillery rounds on Daesh positions around the town of Tarmiyah, located in Salahuddin province, Sabereen News reported.

Twelve terrorists were killed during the operation, which was carried out by the PMU’s 12th Brigade on Monday, the PMU affiliated Telegram news channel added.

The development came a day after the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) announced in a statement  that it had arrested 14 people responsible for planning and carrying out attacks during a large-scale operation in Baghdad.

According to the intelligence service, the detainees include senior Daesh commanders, namely Abu Safana, Abu Omar, and Abu Musab, who were arrested during several ambushes.

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

Iraq declared victory over the terrorist group in December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign, in which the PMU, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Sha’abi, also played a major role.

However, Daesh’s remnants keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash fresh violence in the Arab country.

The Takfiri terrorist group has managed to intensify its attacks in Iraq, particularly 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 in a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport.

Anti-US sentiments sharply increased in Iraq in the aftermath of the assassination, prompting Iraqi lawmakers to pass a bill – only two days after the assassination – that required the Baghdad government to end the presence of all foreign military forces led by Washington.

The US was finally forced to end its “combat mission” in Iraq by the end of 2021, but Iraqi resistance groups say the Pentagon’s so-called advisory role has to end as well.