Iraq Launches New Op against ’ISIS’

Local Editor

Backed by paramilitary forces and aerial support, Iraqi troops Tuesday launched a new push to retake a key area north of the capital, Baghdad, and dislodge "ISIS" militants from there, officials said.

According to a statement by the Joint Operations Command, the "new offensive" began at dawn in a swath agricultural area northeast of the city of Samarra, 95 kilometers north of Baghdad, with the aim to cut "ISIS" supply lines and to tighten the grip around the "ISIS"-held northern city of Mosul.

The command says paramilitary forces and the Iraqi air force were backing the push on the area, called Jazerat Samarra.

Controlling the Jazerat Samarra area will not only restrict the "ISIS" militants' movements between the three provinces in the region, but will also be essential for future operations to retake parts of Anbar province and Mosul, said Sabah al-Numan, the spokesman of the counter-terrorism forces.

Al-Numan said that two vehicles loaded with militants were bombed Tuesday, and that the security forces managed to hit a would-be suicide car bomber before he reached his target.

The offensive comes on the heels of two massive bombings in as many days by the "ISIS" group in the area - in the town of Muqdadiyah and in Baghdad - that martyred at least 110 people.

Spokesman for the paramilitary forces, MP Ahmed al-Asadi, said the offensive "is in retaliation for the blood of our martyrs and to annihilate the terrorist gangs that have wreaked havoc."

"ISIS" still controls much of northern and western Iraq, but has been driven back in recent months in some areas, such as the cities of Ramadi and Tikrit. The government last month declared the western city of Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, "fully liberated" after it had been captured by "ISIS" last year.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team