Random Article Summary #107

The Western Anbar offensive in 2017 was a military operation led by the Iraqi Army against the Islamic State. It took place in western parts of Iraq’s Anbar Province and along the border with Syria. This campaign happened at the same time as other efforts against IS. These included the Hawija Offensive in Iraq and the Raqqa campaign by the Syrian Democratic Forces, targeting IS’s former major stronghold in Syria. It was also carried out alongside the Central Syria campaign and the Mayadin offensive in 2017. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, western Anbar—especially Al-Qaim—became a major base for jihadist insurgents, and its border with Syria was criticized for allowing foreign fighters to enter Iraq. Although Iraqi forces retook key cities like Ramadi and Fallujah, areas close to the Syrian border, including Anah, Rawa, and Al-Qaim, and much of the rural province, remained under Islamic State control in 2017. The 2017 Euphrates Valley offensive aimed to capture these last IS enclaves, backed by airstrikes and leaflet warnings to civilians and militants in mid-September. On September 16, Iraqi forces, backed by a US-led air alliance, launched an operation to push IS away from the Iraq–Syria border south of the Euphrates and strengthen control of the border. The attack targeted the Akashat area, which contains natural gas reserves, as a step toward taking IS-held towns along the Euphrates valley. Later that day, Iraqi forces announced they captured Akashat, reopened a key nearby road, and said Hashd al-Shaabi destroyed IS defensive positions used to move between Syria and Iraq. On September 19, Iraqi forces—supported by US airstrikes and including army, police, and tribal fighters—began an attack on militants in western Anbar near the town of Anah. They captured the village of al-Rayhana and later reported killing several militants while others retreated back to Anah. By September 21, Iraqi forces said they had fully taken Anah, and a report also claimed that an IS field leader, Mostafa Anwar Nayef, was killed in the town’s al-Shishan district. In late September and early October 2017, Iraqi and allied forces carried out airstrikes and road sweeps around Rawa and Al-Qaim, killing IS militants and destroying their headquarters and rest houses. IS briefly attacked areas near Ramadi, but Iraqi forces and local tribes reportedly retook districts and killed the attackers, while more militants were killed in later airstrikes. By late October, the Iraqi government announced a new push to retake the western border region, with plans backed by air operations.