Iraqi government forces, backed by fighters from Popular Mobilization units, have carried out a series of clean-up operations across Iraq, killing dozens of Takfiri ISIL militants.
A total of 23 ISIL extremists were killed after Iraqi security forces launched offensives in the al-Naeemia, Hitaween, Wadi al-Dhiban, Qaryat al-Sa’dan and al-Anaz regions of the town of al-Karmah, located 48 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad, on Tuesday.
Iraqi forces also cleared a booby-trapped house, demolished a terrorist hideout and destroyed three vehicles rigged with explosives during the raids.
Moreover, Iraqi government soldiers killed 36 ISIL militants and destroyed three cars belonging to the terrorists as they thwarted an ISIL onslaught on Fatha district, located 35 kilometers (21 miles) northeast of the strategic northern city of Tikrit.
Iraqi security forces together with Popular Mobilization fighters also lobbed a number of rockets at ISIL positions in Fallujah, located roughly 69 kilometers (43 miles) west of Baghdad, killing five Takfiri militants and destroying a warehouse where a considerable amount of weapons had been stockpiled.
Additionally, seven ISIL terrorists, among them a mastermind of terror attacks identified as Sabah al-Jumaili and three foreign engineers, were killed in the industrial park of Fallujah.
The commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Iraqi Army’s 30th Brigade, Colonel Mahmoud Morzi al-Jumaili, also told Arabic-language al-Forat news agency that volunteer fighters had killed an ISIL militant commander, identified as Osama Taha Karim Solbi al-Khaliwavi but better known by the nom de guerre Abu Bara’, as they struck terrorist hideouts in Karmah.
Separately, fighters from Albu Nimr, Albu Mahal and al-Ubaid tribes killed 11 ISIL terrorists as they repelled the Takfiris’ assault on the Qaryat Sakran region of the troubled western province of al-Anbar.
Iraqi fighter jets also carried out precision strikes against terrorist hideouts in the town of Barwanah in Anbar Province, killing eighteen extremists.
The report does not refer to the casualties among Iraqi forces in their campaign against ISIL.
Meanwhile, eight ISIL Takfiris, including an Afghan national, were killed as volunteer forces started an operation to take back Motabaijiah region in the northern Iraqi province of Salahuddin from the militants.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Takfiri ISIL militants began their march through Iraqi territory in June 2014.
MP/HJL/HRB