Shafaq News / The Joint Operations Command revealed, on Saturday, that the Ministry of Interior is responsible now for securing the inhabited areas in five southern governorates.

"The Ministry of Interior will officially follow up the security file in Babel, Al-Diwaniyah and Muthanna and soon in Najaf and Wasit," the spokesperson for the joint operations, Maj. Gen. Tahsin Al-Khafaji said to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

Al-Khafaji confirmed that "work is also underway to hand over the security file in Saladin and Al-Anbar," stressing that "some governorates will continue being secured by the Army due to the presence of ISIS remnants and cells."