Iraqi Forces Recapture Last Daesh-Held Town
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraqi forces on Friday captured the border town of Rawa, the last remaining town under Daesh (ISIL) control, signaling the collapse of the terror group’s self-proclaimed caliphate.
Iraqi forces “liberated Rawa entirely, and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings,” Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah said in a statement from the Joint Operations Command, according to Reuters.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated Iraq’s armed forces and people, saying Rawa was retaken in record time and that Iraq would soon completely defeat Daesh.
“I congratulate our heroic forces and the Iraqi people on the liberation of Rawa. The success of our forces, in record time and with excellent planning, shows their strength. Our armed forces continue to secure the Jazira and desert area and the Iraqi border. Total victory is near,” he said.
A map published by the military showed zero areas under Daesh control.
A video issued by the military showed Iraqi forces sending a message to Rawa’s residents via radio which said: “Daesh has ended for good, and now the age of Iraq begins”.
Another showed a convoy of military vehicles sporting Iraqi flags and blasting out the national anthem. State television played patriotic songs and aired footage of troops in Rawa.
“With the liberation of Rawa we can say all the areas in which Daesh is present have been liberated,” a military spokesman said.
Rawa’s capture marks the end of Daesh’s era of territorial rule over a so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.
