Commander: Iraq launches operation near Syrian border

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi military commander says troops have launched a multi-pronged operation to capture a town near the Syrian border from the Islamic State group.

Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah said Saturday the operation to liberate Akashat aims at securing part of the borders and the area north of the vital highway that links Baghdad to neighbouring Jordan and Syria.

The spokesman for the Joint Military Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, says the U.S.-led coalition is offering aerial support for different factions of troops.

Akashat is a small town west of Anbar province located south of the IS-held, strategic towns of Qaim, Rawa and Ana.

IS has been driven out of most of the territories it seized in 2014, from northern Iraq through the country’s centre and across western Anbar province.