Iraqi Military: Forces Are 'Coming to Liberate You'

Country prepares for a 'final offensive' against ISIS
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 25, 2017 3:33 AM CDT
Iraq Prepares 'Final Offensive' Against ISIS
This image shows Iraqi soldiers and military vehicles in the Qatash area toward a Kirkuk gas plant, south of Kirkuk, Iraq, on Oct. 16, 2017.   (APTN via AP)

The Iraqi military says it's preparing a final offensive to push ISIS out of the last scrap of territory it still holds in the country. Joint Operations Command in Baghdad says the air force dropped flyers reading "Your security forces are now coming to liberate you" over ISIS-held territory in al-Qaim and Rawa near the border with Syria, reports Reuters. ISIS has also lost most of its territory in Syria, including its "capital," Raqqa, and the Soufan Group security consultancy estimates 5,600 of the group's foreign fighters have dispersed to 33 countries, per the AP. Thousands more of the estimated 40,000 fighters from scores of countries who flocked to ISIS after it declared its caliphate have been killed in battle, the group says. (More ISIS stories.)

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