Dijla Operations leadership announces the results

The commander of Dijla military operation revealed, on Thursday, the final results of the military plans that took place in the north of Diyala province to track the cells of ISIS extremist group, as they confirmed that the operations contributed to combing the vast areas in the surrounding areas of the province.
However, anti-extremism forces managed to break into a new neighborhood in the Mosul front amid a collapse of the extremist organization's defenses. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump pledged US sanctions on officials of the Iraqi and Lebanese governments for their positions supporting Iran in a move to fight Tehran's influence in the region.
The American president stressed his administration’s intention to limit the extremist activities adopted by Tehran through imposing sanctions on the Persian country and its allies, including officials in both Iraqi and Lebanese governments. He stressed that his administration also intends to list a number of Islamist groups as terrorist organizations, stressing his keenness to reach a unified vision with his allies in this regard.
On the military side, Iraqi army has invaded another district as troops resume their advance in the western side of Mosul, a source said. Speaking to Shafaaq News, the source said that the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service raided al-Najjar district, recapturing half of it.
Hundreds of Islamic State families publicly fled al-Najjar and the remaining IS-held districts in western Mosul, along with civilians heading toward the liberated regions. In related news, the War Media Cell reported that Iraqi fighter jets F16 have destroyed a booby-trapping workshop, killing several IS militants in an airstrike launched in western Mosul.
In a statement on Thursday, the WMC said “the airstrike destroyed all weapons and explosive substances that were inside the workshop, located on al-Shifa district, in western Mosul.”
“The jets also destroyed two IS locations, one of them was used for telecommunications. A bomb factory in Tal Afar town was also destroyed,” the statement added. On Wednesday, Iraqi troops completely retaken al-Rifaie district and raised the Iraqi flags above its buildings. Iraqi forces have been sweeping through northwestern neighborhoods over the past two weeks in a way to invade the strategic Old City.
More than 16,000 IS members were killed since beginning of operations in Mosul, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, the military spokesperson, said in a press conference on Tuesday declaring that 89.5 percent of western Mosul was liberated with only few districts remaining under the militants control.
In the same context, Military operations have been launched from three regions in Diyala province, the Dijla Operations Command has declared.“Security troops of police and army, backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Units] andal-Hashd al-Ashaeri [tribal mobilization] forces and army jets, launched on Wednesday military operations at three regions to comb five areas is Hamreen basin, in north and northeastern Diyala,” Mag. Gen. Mazhar al-Azzawi, said.
“The troops will raid Islamic State havens in Hamreen including Anjana, Sarha, Qurret Tabah, Jisr Narin and Ain Laila,” he said adding that the outcome of the operations will be declared over the coming few hours.
According to Azzawi, the operations “come within the leadership strategy to eradicate shelters of the extremist groups in Diyala.” Several offensives were launched over the past few months in eastern and northeastern regions in Diyala. Earlier this month, the command launched offensives at four regions of al-Nada basin, Hamreen, Wadi Thilab and Tilal Qazlaq in the province.
IS still holds a few areas in Salahuddin, Diyala, Anbar and Kirkuk, occasionally using them as launching points for its attacks against civilians and security. The Iraqi government is currently employing most of its military power in a major campaign to drive IS out of Mosul, its largest stronghold in Iraq.
On the other hand, Two civilians died and eight others were wounded on Thursday when two bomb blasts hit areas in western Baghdad, according to security sources. One civilian was killed and three others were injured when an explosive device planted near a popular market in al-Nasr wal Salam area in Abu Gharib, west of Baghdad, went off.
Another bomb exploded near commercial stores in Sakalat, al-Resala, also west of Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding five others. Violence and armed conflicts claimed the lives of 317 Iraqis and caused injuries to 403 others during the month of April, according to a monthly United Nations casualty count.
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Nineveh, where U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops are caught up in battles against Islamic State militants in Mosul since October, was the most affected governorate, with 276 casualties (153 killed, 123 injured). Baghdad Governorate followed with 55 killed and 179 injured. Salahuddin came third, with 15 killed and 43 injured.
Baghdad has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016. Islamic State militants had claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks in the city.