Iraq kicks off new phase of major offensive against IS

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Monday evening the start of the second phase of major offensive to free the towns seized earlier by the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin. According to a statement issued by his office, Abadi, who is also Commander-in-chief of Iraqi armed forces, made the announcement during his visit to Salahudin province and meeting with top military officers and leaders of powerful paramilitary groups, known as Hashd Shaabi. "It is a decisive battle which will liberate all Salahudin province, as we have seen great victories in the past period, we will continue these victories," the statement quoted Abadi as saying. In April, Iraqi security forces freed the provincial capital city of Tikrit, after weeks of heavy fighting, and air strikes by the US-led international bombing campaign against IS, as well as efforts by Shiite militias of Hashd Shaabi groups. "The victory in these operations will give a push forward (for the troops) to launch the liberalization of Mosul from Daesh (IS in Arabic) gangs," Abadi said, referring to the IS-held city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad. A source from Salahudin Operations Command told Xinhua that Abadi has met with the leaders of the security forces and Hashd Shaabi group, including the prominent leader Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Badr Organization, which is well-equipped and well-trained on urban warfare. The Badr Organization was previously known as Badr Brigade which maintains its long-running ties with neighboring Iran, where it was first built during the eight-year Iraqi-Iranian war in 1980s. Ameri's Brigade emerged as powerful militia during the years after the US-led invasion to Iraq in 2003 and turned to be a political organization a few years later. During the past few months, the security forces and allied militias, backed by Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft, were fighting with extremist militants in the battleground town of Baiji, 40 km north of Tikrit, and the nearby Iraq's largest oil refinery, but the two sides have been involved in fierce tug-of-war battles. Salahudin, a predominantly Sunni province with its capital of Tikrit, some 170 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, is the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein. Large parts of the province have been under the IS control since June 2014, after bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the group. The IS has taken control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.