Iraqi Army Carries out ‘Sophisticated’ Operation against ISIS

A member of Iraqi Federal Police waves an Iraqi flag as they celebrate victory of military operations against ISIS militants in West Mosul. (Reuters file photo)
A member of Iraqi Federal Police waves an Iraqi flag as they celebrate victory of military operations against ISIS militants in West Mosul. (Reuters file photo)
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Iraqi Army Carries out ‘Sophisticated’ Operation against ISIS

A member of Iraqi Federal Police waves an Iraqi flag as they celebrate victory of military operations against ISIS militants in West Mosul. (Reuters file photo)
A member of Iraqi Federal Police waves an Iraqi flag as they celebrate victory of military operations against ISIS militants in West Mosul. (Reuters file photo)

Iraq Defense Ministry spokesperson Yahya Rasoul stressed that military operations against ISIS were ongoing, revealing that a recent “sophisticated” operation led to the arrest of four terrorists.

Rasoul told Iraqi News Agency on Thursday that Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered the continuation of operations against ISIS remnants, based on a strategy set in coordination with intelligence and security agencies.

Sophisticated operations are regularly being carried out, he added.

He went on saying that that the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Force (CTF) carried out such an operation on Wednesday, covering regions north of Baghdad and in Babel, Kirkuk and Diyala. Four terrorists were detained for being part of a terrorist network aimed at destabilizing security.

Kadhimi is following up on the air and ground operations against ISIS strongholds, he said.

Last week, the army launched a military operation to cleanse vast areas north of Baghdad of ISIS remnants.

Iraq's Security Media Cell announced that the operation was ordered by the PM and supervised by the Joint Operations Command. It added that the troops were backed by the air force, after receiving delicate intelligence information regarding ISIS remnants.



Stormy Weather Sweeps Away Tents Belonging to Displaced People in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Stormy Weather Sweeps Away Tents Belonging to Displaced People in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Weather is compounding the challenges facing displaced people in Gaza, where heavy rains and dropping temperatures are making tents and other temporary shelters uninhabitable.

Government officials in the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave said on Monday that nearly 10,000 tents had been swept away by flooding over the past two days, adding to their earlier warnings about the risks facing those sheltering in low-lying floodplains, including areas designated as humanitarian zones.

Um Mohammad Marouf, a mother who fled bombardments in northern Gaza and now is sheltering with her family in a Gaza City tent said the downpour had covered her children and left everyone wet and vulnerable.

“We have nothing to protect ourselves,” she said outside the United Nations-provided tent where she lives with 10 family members.

Marouf and others living in rows of cloth and nylon tents hung their drenched clothing on drying lines and re-erected their tarpaulin walls on Monday.

Officials from the Hamas-run government said that 81% of the 135,000 tents appeared unfit for shelter, based on recent assessments, and blamed Israel for preventing the entry of additional needed tents. They said many had been swept away by seawater or were inadequate to house displaced people as winter sets in.

The UNestimates that around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are living in squalid tent camps with little food, water or basic services. Israeli evacuation warnings now cover around 90% of the territory.

“The first rains of the winter season mean even more suffering. Around half a million people are at risk in areas of flooding. The situation will only get worse with every drop of rain, every bomb, every strike,” UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, wrote in a statement on X on Monday.