BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces on Wednesday entered the outskirts of Hawijah in offensive to dislodge the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants from their stronghold in the city and surrounding areas, the Iraqi military said.
The Iraqi army, federal police and interior ministry's special forces known as, Rapid Response, backed by paramilitary Hashd Shaabi brigades, moved in the morning toward Hawijah and entered in the afternoon its first outskirts of the city, which located in west of the city of Kirkuk, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, Commander of Hawijah Operations, said in a brief statement.
The troops began clearing operation in the outskirts and preparing to push further inside the city, as the extremist militants sustained heavy casualties, Yarallah said.
In an earlier statement, Yarallah said that the Counter-Terrorism Service, army and Hashd Shaabi brigades freed five villages near Hawijah and ended their mission within the offensive to liberate Hawijah area.
Meanwhile, the security forces and Hashd Shaabi brigades advanced from several directions during the day to the edges of the nearby town of Ryadh in southeast of Hawijah, the Hashd Shaabi said in a statement without giving further details.
The battles in Hawijah were part of an offensive that began on Sept. 29 when the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launch of the second phase of offensive to dislodge IS militants from their stronghold in the city of Hawijah and surrounding areas.
"We announce the start of the second phase of the liberation of Hawijah and all the surrounding areas to the west of Kirkuk, and as promised the sons of our country are continuing to liberate every inch of the land of Iraq and crush the gangs of terrorist Daesh (IS) group," said Abadi in a statement.
The first phase of the operation was launched on Sept. 21 to liberate Hawijah in the western part of Iraq's oil-rich Kirkuk province.
The operation to free Hawijah came as tensions are running high between Baghdad government and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan after the Kurdish region held a controversial referendum on independence of Kurdistan and disputed areas, including Kirkuk.
The independence referendum was opposed by many countries because it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and it could undermine fight against IS militants.
In addition, neighboring countries such as Turkey, Iran and Syria see that such a step would threaten their territorial integrity, as larger populations of Kurds live in those countries.
