Iraqi
army soldiers prepare to depart after killing all the attackers on a
private college, in Baghdad’s eastern neighborhood of Ur, Iraq. (File
photo)
Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:50PM GMT
0
The
Iraqi military plans to push ISIL Takfiri militant out of the city of
Tikrit, after having broken the terror group's siege on the town of
Baiji and its refinery.
“Over the next three days, we will work on reinforcing our capacity because we are planning to clear areas on three sides of Tikrit,” an unnamed army brigadier general said on Monday.
The brigadier general added that Iraqi forces would move toward the major city from Baiji, Samarra, as well as eastern regions.
The Takfiri militants gained control of Mosul, the capital of Iraq’s Nineveh Province, in June, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
The Iraqi army gained a significant victory last week when its troops retook the northern town of Baiji and broke a months-long siege on the nearby Baiji oil refinery, the country's largest, in the restive Salahuddin Province where security forces are fighting the ISIL.
The brigadier general in the Salahuddin operations command noted that the army is in full control of Baiji, whose liberation is believed to choke off the ISIL militants’ supply lines.
The terrorists currently control large swathes of land in Iraq and neighboring Syria.
The Iraqi army has so far managed to make numerous gains in the fight against the ISIL militants, pledging to continue the battle against the extremist group.
The militants have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations, against Iraqi communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.
MR/SS
