Iraqi Forces Gain Control of 11 Villages in Kirkuk
The Iraqi army and popular forces won back nearly a dozen villages in Kirkuk province from the ISIL Takfiri militants.
The Iraqi forces took control of 11 villages along the Touz Khourmato-Daquq road which paved the way for purging terrorists from the strategic Baghdad-Kirkuk highway.
At least 40 ISIL terrorists, including Arab nationals were killed in the Kirkuk mop-up operations.
In a similar development, the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces regained control of 10 villages in Kirkuk.
The assault began at dawn in the Daquq area, around 175 kilometers (110 miles) North of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. By evening, Kurdish forces had taken an area of around 250 square kilometers, Kurdish military sources said Wednesday.
An aide to a top Kurdish commander taking part in the offensive said five peshmerga had been killed, most of them by improvised explosive devices.
“This area (near Daquq) posed a danger to the main road from Kirkuk to Baghdad and the Kurdish and other villages adjacent to the areas occupied by Daesh (ISIL),” Brigadier General Aras Abdel Rahman said.
The ISIL Takfiri terrorists have threatened all communities, as they continue their atrocities in Iraq and Syria.
Senior Iraqi officials have blamed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Gulf Arab states for the growing terrorism in their country.
The ISIL has links with Saudi intelligence and is believed to be indirectly supported by the Israeli regime.
Seven ISIL terrorists killed in Iraqi airstrike near Ramadi
Military sources said that the Iraqi fighter jets’ attacks on the strongholds of the ISIL Takfiri terrorists near Ramadi resulted in the killing of at least seven militants and wounding of several others.
“The Iraqi Air Force destroyed hideouts of the ISIL militants in Khalidiya island which left at least seven terrorists killed and tens others wounded,” a statement by the military sources said.
The Iraqi forces and volunteers reportedly retook the key Jubbah region in Iraq’s Western Anbar province, driving out the ISIL Takfiri militants which had previously held it.
“Joint forces managed to free the Jubbah Region in the Heet District,” an informed source said.
This came as part of operations aimed to re-take the city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, which was seized by ISIL back in May.
FNA
R.S