The Iraqi army says 98 militants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group have been killed in the provinces of Anbar and Kirkuk, as government forces push ahead with their anti-terror military operations.
The commander of the al-Jazeera and al-Badiya Operations, Major General Ali Ibrahim Dbon, announced on Tuesday that 65 members of the terror group were slain in a military operation supported by army jets in Albu-Hayat area in Haditha district, 160 kilometers (99 miles) west of Ramadi, the capital of the western province of Anbar, the Iraqi News online newspaper reported.
During the operation, six booby-trapped vehicles and five boats were destroyed, and 75 explosive devices were dismantled, Dbon added.
Iraq’s state-run al-Iraqiya television also reported that Iraqi troops managed to kill a Daesh leader called Abu Urouba al-Shami and 14 other terrorists in Fallujah in eastern Anbar.
Meanwhile, an unnamed security source told the Iraqi News that a number of airstrikes in the northern province of Kirkuk killed at least 18 terrorists. The airborne attacks also targeted a so-called al-Hisba or Daesh morality police office, which is responsible for ordering and carrying out lashings and amputations in the militant-held areas.
Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Othman al-Ghanimi said on Tuesday that Iraq’s army and volunteer forces have surrounded the central city of Ramadi from four directions, preparing to fully liberate it from Daesh terrorists.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh Takfiri militants began their march through the Iraqi territory in June 2014.
Army soldiers and Popular Mobilization units are seeking to take back militant-held regions in joint operations.