Militants of the Daesh terrorist group kidnapped a total of eight civilians in Iraq’s western Anbar province, local media reported on Friday.
Al-Sumaria television channel reported, citing the head of Rawah District, that Daesh terrorists kidnapped five residents of the city of Rawah in the northeast of the same name district.
At the same time, according to local law enforcement agencies, three civilians were abducted by militants 80 kilometers west of the city of Haditha.
In December 2017, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced that the country had defeated the Daesh on its territory after over three year of fighting, adding that local security forces would continue eliminating the terrorists’ sleeper cells.
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi, have been supporting the Iraqi military in its fight against the Daesh.
In January, the PMF killed and injured 35 members of the Daesh terror group on the Syrian territory. The attack on the terrorists was carried out in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province. The paramilitary forces said the security situation in the area was under their control.
Iraq has been reportedly striking Daesh positions along the Syrian border since April 2018. The Iraqi Air Force coordinate their actions with Russia, Syria and Iran through the information exchange center in Baghdad. The PMF militia, which became part of the Iraqi Armed Forces in 2016, also shell terrorist targets in Syria.