Joint forces of army, police and Popular Mobilization have started wide-scale operations to liberate Hawija district and its surrounding areas from Daesh terrorists, Hawija Operations Commander Lt. Gen. Rashid Yarallah said on Friday.

The latest anti-Daesh military action is the second phase of operation to liberate Hawija district, Yarallah was quoted by Alsumaria channel as saying.

The launch of the second phase of the operation was announced earlier in the day by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi, who underlined that eliminating Daesh terrorists became imminent.