The first phase of liberating and clearing the al-Badiya and al-Jazeera areas between Anbar and Ninawa provinces has been completed, the Iraqi Ministry of Defence announced Monday (November 27th).
The Iraqi army and Federal Police, assisted by the Iraqi air force, have wrapped up the first phase of the operations in al-Jazeera and Upper Euphrates by clearing villages and areas between southern al-Hadar and northern Rawa, a ministry statement said.
"Our heroic forces have cleared 175 villages, five bridges, several crossings and one military airbase -- a total of 14,100 square kilometres," it said.
"Our forces have inflicted heavy material losses on the terrorists, destroying 11 vehicles carrying machine guns, five oil tankers, 18 vehicles packed with explosives, seven motorcycles and six bomb-making workshops," the statement said.
More than 1,000 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were defused, it said, adding that clearing operations are ongoing.
