SHARGAT, Iraq—Iraqi forces have liberated six villages in the operation to retake Shargat, a mainly Sunni town in the northern province of Salahaddin on Tuesday, an official told Rudaw.

The deputy head of the council for Salahaddin province told Rudaw that the Iraqi forces have already liberated the villages of Masihli, al-Sakaniyah, Tasni’, al-Naml, al-Khanuka, and Ajmisa.

Iraqi forces on Tuesday pushed north from Baiji, towards Shargat, which the Islamic State (ISIS) captured in 2014. The villages they recaptured are to the south and southwest of Shargat.

The governor of Salahaddin province, Ahmed Abdullah al-Jabouri, said that Iraqi forces are less than five kilometres from Shargat to the south, and 13 kilometres away from the north.

The media office for the Iraqi army said the US-led coalition has killed 12 ISIS fighters in airstrikes and destroyed several vehicles in the Shargat area.

There are conflicting reports about the nature of forces involved in the operation.

Rudaw’s reporter in the area said there are 1,400 members from the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi who are dressed like Sunni forces present.

Earlier, Ali Moosa, a media official from Salahaddin province told Rudaw, “Salahaddin Brigade forces, together with the province’s police and the Iraqi army” are taking part in the operation.

He added that the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militias are on a part of the front where there have been no clashes so far.

“We do not know yet whether or not they will participate in this operation,” Moosa explained.

Zuhair Hazm al-Jaburi, the spokesperson for the National Hashd, a Sunni force, commenting on the operation from Rudaw’s studio in Erbil, said they are concerned about the participation of Shiite militia in the operation because “of the crimes committed by the Hashd al-Shaabi against the Sunni Arabs”.




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