Iraqi forces attack Daesh desert outposts near Syria border

Iraqi forces attacked a desert outpost of Daesh near the Syrian border on Saturday in preparation for a drive up the Euphrates Valley towards the frontier, Iraqi military said.

Iraqi armed forces said the offensive aims to dislodge Daesh from an area holding some of the militants' last towns in the country.

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

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

Iraqi commanders said they estimate Daesh has more than 1,500 fighters in its al Qaim enclave.

Daesh 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.

Investigating Daesh crimes

The Security Council is putting the final touches on a resolution that would authorise UN investigators to help Iraq collect evidence to prosecute terrorists from Daesh for possible war crimes.

The draft resolution would ask Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish an investigative team to assist Iraq in preserving evidence "that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide" committed by Daesh.

A council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations are private, said Saturday the council hopes to vote next Thursday.

Reactions over referendum

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi said on Saturday that Kurdish plans to hold the referendum on independence were like "playing with fire", according to a local media website.

Abadi's comment came after the parliament of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq approved on Friday the Kurdistan Regional Government's plan to hold the vote on September 25.

The vote could jeopardise gains achieved by the Kurds under the self-rule regime, Abadi said, according to the Iraqi Media News Agency news website.

Turkey has also expressed its disapproval with the vote, saying the referendum is an issue of national security.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview on Friday that Barzani's decision not to postpone the referendum was "very wrong". 

TRT World's Nicole Johnston reports the offensive and the upcoming referendum in northern Iraq. 

Leaflets call for surrender 

The Iraqi air force dropped thousands of leaflets overnight on Akashat, telling the militants to surrender or face death, an Iraqi military statement said.

The spokesman for the Joint Military Command, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, said the US-led coalition is offering aerial support for different factions of troops.

The Iraqi army is also supported by Hashed al Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation force) – a paramilitary force largely composed of Iran-trained Shia militias but also including some fighters recruited from Sunni tribes.

Shrinking 'caliphate'

Two different alliances are also advancing on Daesh position on the Syrian side of the border – Syrian regime forces supported by Russian air strikes and Iran-backed militias, and a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.

The cross-border "caliphate" declared by Daesh in 2014 effectively collapsed in July, when a US-backed Iraqi offensive captured Mosul, the militants' capital in Iraq. 

The towns in the border region with Syria and Hawija, a northern province close to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, are the only urban centres still under Daesh control in Iraq.

The group overran about a third of Iraq in 2014 in a sweeping offensive that allowed Daesh to grab hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weaponry and vehicles left by the fleeing Iraqi forces.