Iraq Hails Progress Troops Achieved in Military Operation

Local Editor

Iraqi officials hailed on Wednesday the progress achieved by government troops on the second day of a military operation aimed at dislodging "ISIS" militants from a key area north of the capital, Baghdad.

On Tuesday, Iraqi troops, backed by aerial support and other forces, launched a new push to retake a sprawling desert area outside the central 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.

"We have achieved a big success," the commander of the Iraqi Air Force, Staff General Hamid al-Maliki, said in a video distributed by the Defense Ministry adding that government forces had progressed farther than expected so far. He hailed the paramilitary forces as playing "a big role" alongside government security forces.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said that continuous violence has left at least 670 Iraqis dead in February, of whom about two-thirds were civilians.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, known as UNAMI, put the number of the killed civilians at 410, a figure which according to UN methodology includes the federal police, civil defense forces and personal security details. The rest were security forces, including Kurdish Peshmerga and other troops.

It added that a total of 1,290 people were wounded, including 1,050 civilians. The worst affected area was Baghdad, with 277 civilians killed and 838 injured.

Citing its local health authorities, the UN said at least four civilians were killed and 126 others wounded in the western province of Anbar, which has large areas under "ISIS" control. The UN said it could not fully verify the Anbar figures due to the increased volatility of the situation on the ground and the disruption of services.

The Iraqi troops scored key victories against "ISIS" since last year. But a long-awaited campaign to retake Mosul, the main city held by the militants, has yet to begin.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team