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On Saturday, the Iraqi Army, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and Federal Police launched a large-scale military operation against the ISIS terrorist group in the western part of Anbar province.
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PMU MediaPMU announces launch of liberating Akashat area operation west of al-Anbar through 4 axis pic.twitter.com/iTJPdIcmwx
— War Media Team (@warmediateam) 16 September 2017
According to the PMU media wing, the ISIS-held border town of Akashat will be the first target of the operation. Controlling Akashat, the army, the PMU and their allies will be able to establish a better link with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies in Syria via a land route thourgh the Syrian-Iraqi border.
Experts believe that this will allow Iran and the PMU to boost support that they provide to the Syrian government in battles on multiple fronts in Syria.
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The operation came amid the growing tensions between the US-led coalition and the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance in the countryside of the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor.
Pro-government sources speculate that the PMU and the Iraqi Army may help Syrian government forces to retake al-Bukamal city from ISIS with own adavance towards al-Qaim. However, it’s possible that the army and the PMU may have no time for this later this month because of the tennsions with the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government that seeks to turn a part of Iraq into a independent Kurdish state.
