Iraq’s Joint Operations Command announced yesterday that it has launched a military operation along the Saudi border to overcome sources of terrorism.

The campaign, in cooperation with international coalition forces, is the fifth phase of military campaign the “Will of Victory” which Iraq launched on 7 July in an effort to secure the province of Anbar and the central and northern regions of Salahuddin and Nineveh.

The deputy commander of operations in the Iraqi army, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rashid Al-Jarallah, said in a statement that “the fifth phase of the operation Will of Victory began at dawn today in the Anbar desert, south of the international road, adjacent to the Saudi-Iraqi border.”

The operation was initiated by Iraqi forces in the Anbar Operations Command, with the participation of members of the militia group the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), Anbar Emergency Police Regiment, Anbar Police Tactical Regiment and Highway Protection Regiment, the statement added.

“The operation is carried out,” Al-Jarallah explained, “with aerial support from the Iraqi air force and the international anti-Daesh coalition. It aims to dry up the sources of terrorism, pursue wanted persons and terrorist elements, and to enhance security and stability in the areas covered by this phase.”

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