The Islamic State (IS) militants deserted al-Qaim town in Iraq and moved to al-Bukamal in Syria, a tribal force commander said.
Falah Dilemi, the Commander of al-Anbar tribal forces, told BasNews that all IS militants have withdrawn from al-Qaim town on the Iraqi-Syrian border, and moved to al-Bukamal sub-district in Deir al-Zour province in Syria today,March 13th.
The militants have also evacuated their families from the area and the reason behind the withdrawal remains unknown, Dilemi said.
The tribal forces are now ready to regain the control of the town and will make advances shortly, he added.
Some Iraqi media outlets have previously said that IS militants withdrew from ar-Rutbah town, but the information obtained by BasNews confirmed the town deserted by IS is al-Qaim.
Al-Qaim is an Iraqi town in the western province of al-Anbar, located nearly 400 km northwest of Baghdad near the Syrian border and situated along the Euphrates River.
According to some Iraqi officials, IS insurgents have recently started to withdraw from the entire Anbar province after they lost the control of the provincial capital city of Ramadi last December. The Iraq army has been attempting for the past few months to push deeper into the IS-held areas in the west of the country.
basnews.com
