“The Iraqi security forces, in cooperation with tribal fighters and Iraqi warplanes and the coalition, launched the Rutbah offensive,” Sabah Karhut, head of the Anbar provincial council, was quoted as saying by the Kurdish media group Rudaw.
Karhut added that Iraqi officials planned to release a statement concerning the advance of the army later on Monday.
Rutbah, as well as many other cities in western and northern Iraq including Mosul, the country’s second largest city, were seized by the Islamic State terror group, which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries, in 2014.
Since last year, the Iraqi army, supported by the US-led international coalition as well as Kurdish forces, has managed to retake some territories occupied by Daesh terrorists – including the city of Ramadi, capital of the Anbar province.
