25 Daesh members killed in north of Iraq in one month

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Fighters from Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Sha'abi, have killed 25 Daesh militants over a span of one month in the north of the country, a spokesman for the popular movement said.

Ali al-Husseini, the spokesperson of Hashd al-Sha'abi for northern Iraq, told the local al-Maalouma news agency that popular forces carried out four major operations against Daesh in the cities of Kirkuk, Hawijah, Tuz Khurmatu, Amerli, and al-Zarqa in the past month.

During the attacks, 25 militants, including several ringleaders, were killed, he added.

The spokesman said numerous hideouts of the terrorists were destroyed during the operations across Kirkuk and other northern areas.

Daesh has intensified its attacks in Iraq amid Baghdad’s call on the US to pull out its forces from the Arab country.

In a vote on January 5, the Iraqi parliament called for an end to the presence of all foreign troops, including Americans.

The vote came two days after the US military - acting on US President Donald Trump’s order - launched a fatal drone strike on senior Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital at the invitation of the Baghdad government.

The attack also claimed the lives of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of the PMU, and eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.

Washington has threatened sanctions should US troops be expelled instead of heeding the Iraqi parliament’s call to end the occupation of the country.

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