ANBAR
At least three children were killed Sunday and three women were injured in attacks on residential areas by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known also as Daesh, in Anbar Province, western Iraq.
The security sources said that the Daesh militants hit the area with mortars while carrying out an offensive on a military base near the al-Baghdadi township.
In the same region, close to the military base, Daesh militants killed at least five civilians on Saturday and injured six others after shooting mortars.
The al-Baghdadi Local Assembly said Saturday that around 500 families were forced to leave their houses following Daesh attacks. The assembly said that more than 1,000 children were in danger due to lack of food.
Separately, security officials said on Saturday that Daesh militants executed the 32 policemen and Sunni tribal forces by firing squad in front of the locals of the Vaddahiye village of al-Baghdadi.
Earlier in February, Daesh reportedly burned to death 45 people in al-Baghdadi. The Iraqi army has made efforts to retake the town.
- Tikrit large-scale operation
The Iraqi army has said it has prepared a large-scale operation to free from Daesh militants the Tikrit city, about 140 km northwest of Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Security sources said that the Iraqi army, supported by Shiite volunteers and armed tribal groups, gathered in the south of Tikrit city, in the Samarra township.
The military spokesperson of Shia volunteers Karim en-Nouri told AA they had made all preparations to take the control of Tikrit city from Daesh militants, and were waiting for the orders of the Iraqi Armed Forces General Command. About 3,500 Shia volunteers are estimated to have joined Iraqi army in this large-scale operation.
Iraq has plunged into a security vacuum since June 2014, when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant stormed the northern Iraqi province of Mosul and declared what it called a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
The Daesh massacres and the massive deportation of population led to the creation of an international coalition against the terror group. The U.S.-led coalition has been staging airstrikes against Daesh objectives in Iraq and Syria since mid-September 2014.
