Iraqi forces fire preliminary shells from the area of al-Sakrah, as they prepare a military operation to push out ISIS from the nearby village of Anah in the northwestern Anbar province.

:: Iraqi forces have announced in a military statement that they had completed the expulsion of ISIS from the town of Akashat, a border area with Syria south of the Euphrates River, west of Anbar.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command announced the launch of pre-emptive military operations to restore areas controlled by ISIS in western Iraq near the border with Syria.

Akashat lies at the crossroads between northwest Rutba and southeast of Qaim, 310 kilometers west of Ramadi, which seized by extremists in early 2014.

The area was used to house weapons warehouses, training camps, workshops to build improvised explosive devices, and command and control center by ISIS.

On the eve of the operation, Iraqi Air Force planes delivered thousands of leaflets to the areas of Akashat, Ana, Rawa and al-Qaim, west of Anbar, providing guidance to the families and informing them of the impending operation.

The leaflets also included a warning to ISIS fighters and their demand to “surrender themselves and be subjected to a fair trial or death by fire by the armed forces”.