Iraqi Government forces today intensified attacks in Al-Anbar and Nineveh provinces against Islamic extremist bastions, who recently destroyed an old library in Tal Afar and cut the rationing of food to minorities.
Iraqi Air Force fighters resumed air strikes on bases of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in different parts of Ramadi, capital of the western Al-Anbar province, where insurgents blew up Albu Ghaib bridge which linked that area to Al-Saqlawiyah.
According to military sources, the operation was aimed at killing elements of the also called Islamic State (IS) and allied militias who has been deployed in the international highway west of Ramadi, near the garrison of the 8th Army Brigade there.
Combats continue between regular troops, backed by Shiite volunteers, members of local tribes and Sahwa Councils (moderated Sunnies), and Takfirists (fundamentalists), but any of two sides has so far reached the total control of the region, said a spokesman.
Al-iya TV channel also quoted Army officials confirming that 8 people lost their lives and 54 others were injured as a result of two car bomb explosions in Al-Hay market, in the Shiite Sadr City district, eastern Baghdad capital, last night
The same source reported that after fierce combats with IS, members of three armed tribes loyal to the Government totally liberated Dhuluiyah town, about 70 kilometers north of Baghdad, and located south of Tikrit, capital of Salaheddin province, which continues under the Islamist insurgencies control.
However, Sunni extremists continue holding control in Mosul, Iraq’s second important city and capital of the northern Ninive province, despite intermittent air raids and ground skirmish in the surrounding areas. (PL)