(VOVworld) - Iraqi forces on Thursday launched an offensive aimed at retaking towns still under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS) group in western areas near the border with Syria.
 

A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier is silhouetted while French President visits a military outpost on the outskirts of the northern city of Mosul, on January 2, 2017. Christophe Ena/Pool/AFP

Lieutenant General Qassem Mohammedi, commander of the Jazeera Operations Command, said a military operation had begun in the western parts of Anbar to liberate them from ISIS.
He said the operation was led by the army's 7th division as well as police and fighters from local tribes who have opposed the jihadists, with aerial backing from the US-led coalition. The main targets of the operation are Aanah, Rawa and Al-Qaim, the westernmost Iraqi towns along the Euphrates Valley.