ISIL Withdraws From Gov’t Building in Iraq’s Ramadi
The ISIL Takfiri terrorists have pulled out of the main government building in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, sources say.
The terrorists, under fierce strikes by the Iraqi army and volunteer forces, were compelled to withdraw from the building, leaving the surroundings booby trapped or on fire, Qatar-based al-Jazeera news network quoted Ramadi’s Mayor Dalaf al-Kubaisi and tribal leaders as saying on Saturday.
A day earlier, the militants had reportedly taken control of government headquarters in Ramadi and raised their notorious black flag over the building.
An Iraqi military spokesman said on Saturday that reinforcements have been sent to Ramadi in a bid to assist the forces fighting the ISIL in the city.
Describing the situation on the ground as “positive”, Brigadier General Saad Maan pledged that the terrorists will be pushed out of the city “in the coming hours.”
In an earlier development, a police official said the ISIL reportedly executed 70 people in the Albu Alwan, al-Thaela’a al-Sharqiya, al-Jamiyeh, and al-Sherka districts of Ramadi on Friday, Iraq’s al-Sumaria satellite TV network reported.
The source added that women and children together with security personnel were among those executed at the hands of the terrorists.
The ISIL militants also fired a number of mortar shells at residential areas in Ramadi. Tens of people either died or sustained injuries in the shelling.
ISIL losing top commanders
Early on Saturday, a team of US Army’s Delta Force commandos conducted a raid in eastern Syria and killed a senior commander of the ISIL terror group, known as Abu Sayyaf, and his wife Umm Sayyaf.
Sayyaf was in charge of ISIL’ oil and gas operations and was directly involved in the terrorist group’s command and control.
The American forces managed to capture Umm Sayyaf, an Iraqi national, and took her to Iraq for interrogation. They also freed a young Izadi woman who had been held as a slave by Sayyaf and his wife.
The Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced on May 13 that Abu Ala al-Afri, the ISIL’s second-in-command, was killed in an airstrike by the US-led international coalition.
The attack, which hit the city of Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq, also killed dozens of other militants.
Afri had reportedly been left in charge of the group after ISIL leader Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi got injured.
Baghdadi reportedly sustained the injuries during a US-led coalition attack while he was travelling in a three-car convoy on March 18 in northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.
Iraq’s Military Intelligence Service issued a statement on May 12, saying Abu Walid, another senior commander of the Takfiris, had been killed by Iraqi forces in the capital Baghdad.
Iraqi forces regain control over strategic regions in Baiji
The Iraqi counterterrorism forces took control of two important districts of the town of Baiji in the Northern Province of Salahuddin from ISIL militants on Saturday.
The Iraqi forces purged Baiji’s Sekak and al-Askari districts of ISIL terrorists today.
The Iraqi security forces also announced on Wednesday that they had seized back control of Al-Naft and al-Shohada districts of Baiji from ISIL.
The Iraqi army also purged the towers 15, 16 and 17 of Baiji oil refinery of ISIL terrorists this week.
On Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced that the Iraqi army had managed to recapture many territories from the ISIL terrorists and would intensify efforts to expel them from the town of Baiji which is considered the ISIL Takfiri militants’ last fortress.
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.
PRESS T.V, FNA
R.S