Arab tribe in Iraq mobilizes more than 5,000 fighters to prevent ISIS regrouping
Shafaq News / "Al-Obaid" tribe in Kirkuk governorate in Iraq revealed on Saturday that more than 5,000 fighters had been mobilized to face the Islamic State (ISIS) threat and growth of in Hawija district and its aftermath.
"Al-Obaid tribe entered the general alarm stage and took up arms to face ISIS threat in Hawija district and prevent the return of armed groups to the district’s areas, stressing that the people of Kirkuk will not allow any ISIS element to return to their areas and prevent the recurrence of "tragedies" in Hawija district that was controlled by ISIS from 2014 -2017 ,” Obaid tribe and the member of the dissolved Kirkuk Council, Burhan Mezher Al-Assi told Shafaq News.
"We are fully prepared to support the security services, participate in security operations, and pursue ISIS dens, no matter what the risks and challenges are, warning of the growing danger of ISIS in the liberated areas of Hawija," Al-Assi added.
Al-Assi called on the security and intelligence services to intensify strikes and operations within the sectors of Al-Hawija district and cut the road for ISIS elements to carry out their terrorist plans.
Kirkuk province extends over an area of ten thousand square kilometers, and it is 250 kilometers from Baghdad, and its population is estimated at about one and a half million people, between Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and other nationalities.
Hawija area had been under the control of ISIS militant organization in June 2014, along with Mosul, which Iraqi forces have recovered with the support of Peshmerga forces and US-led international coalition’s aircrafts.
