Iraqi Army Launches Operation to Retake Anbar Province

A spokesperson for the Iraqi Army stated that the country's military, with the assistance of Shiite militias, launched an operation on Monday to drive the Islamic State group out of Anbar province. General Yahya Rasool Abdullah, the spokesperson for the Iraqi Army, said that the operation began at 5 AM on Monday (July 22) with the participation of army forces, Shiite militias (Hashd al-Shaabi), special forces, police, and local tribes to liberate Anbar, and these forces are advancing towards designated targets. According to Al Jazeera, 5,000 personnel are involved in this operation. An Al Jazeera reporter noted that this operation may be focused on retaking Fallujah. Coalition forces targeted the media centers and radio stations of the Islamic State. The Islamic State group occupied Anbar province in early 2014. Iraq has been conducting operations to liberate the city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, since May, but these operations have not made significant progress. Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, also briefly promised that revenge would be taken on 'ISIS criminals on the battlefield.' Meanwhile, hours after this operation, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced that four F-16 fighter jets had landed at Balad Air Base north of Baghdad. Iraq has ordered 36 F-16s from the United States, part of which was delivered on Monday. On the other hand, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a series of bombings on Sunday in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, which resulted in at least 26 deaths and 81 injuries.