Iraqi Forces Stage Raid to Retake Hit in Anbar Province

Alsumaria news agency quoted the head of the Anbar provincial council as saying that the military operation began on Saturday to liberate Iraq’s central city of Hit.

According to Sabah Karhout, the security forces, backed by the tribal fighters, have made advances in the Kubaysah region, west of Hit.

The raid comes after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pledged a forthcoming military operation to recapture the northe city of Mosul from the terrorist groups.

Abadi has vowed that the Iraqi flag will be soon hoisted in the city of Mosul, which has been seized by the Daesh (also known as ISIL) terrorist group since June 2014.

The Daesh militants made advances in much of northe and weste Iraq in summer 2014, after capturing swaths of northe Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the popular forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of the Daesh offensive.