BAGHDAD, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi forces launched on Saturday the second phase of an offensive under the supervision of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to hunt down remnants of Islamic State (IS) militants in north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

A statement by the media office of the prime minister, who is the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said that Abdul Mahdi supervised the launch of the second phase of an offensive dubbed "Victory Will" in north of Baghdad and surrounding areas.

The offensive was launched at dawn in the areas of Tarmia and Mashahda, as Abdul Mahdi visited the headquarters and met the commanders of the military units participating in the offensive, the statement said.

Abdul Mahdi instructed the military units "to do their duties with high professionalism and with the full support and cooperation of the citizens and tribal leaders in the areas of the offensive," the statement added.

"The unity of our people and their cooperation with our armed forces would provide security and stability in the areas and would pave the way for appropriate conditions to provide services for citizens," according to the statement.

On July 7, the Iraqi soldiers and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units, backed by Iraqi and international aircraft, launched the first phase of the offensive to hunt down IS militants in the desert and rugged areas in the provinces of Anbar, Salahudin and Nineveh in the border areas with neighboring Syria.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.