Off the wire
• Nearly thousand flights cancelled as Tri-State NY braces for another snow storm  • Court extends injunction against Kenyan Premier League  • Government approves merger of China's top two train makers  • UAE, South Korea strengthen bilateral ties  • 94 million Americans affected by latest winter storm  • FLASH: AT LEAST 45 PEOPLE KILLED BY BOKO HARAM MILITANTS IN NIGERIA -- WITNESSES  • Spanish treasury places 5 bln euros on market  • 1st LD-Writethru: Strong odor in Lanzhou tap water reduced  • Germany passes rules to put brakes on rent increases  • China-donated hospital worth 6 mln USD to open in Namibia  
You are here: 　 Home

Iraqi forces wage operation to drive out IS militants west of Baghdad

Xinhua, March 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Iraqi security forces on Thursday launched an offensive to clear the areas west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad from the Islamic State (IS) militants who frequently attacked northern parts of the capital with mortar and rockets, a military spokesman said.

The operations are designed to drive out the extremist militants who from time to time are approaching Baghdad from the areas located in east of the militants-seized town of Garma, some 40 km west of Baghdad, the Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said in a statement.

The offensive is commanded by Baghdad Operations Command, responsible for the security of Baghdad province, with the participation of the Iraqi army, federal police, and allied Shiite and Sunni militias, and covered by the Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition air support, the statement said.

The battles continued during the day with the IS militants, as the troops are approaching to Garma, the statement said, adding that the clashes resulted in the capturing of the areas of al-Ma'mal and Jsir Sbiehat, leaving dozens of the extremist militants killed and wounded.

Separately, security forces and Sunni tribal fighters clashed with the IS militants in the area of al-Falahat, in west of the militants-seized city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, and managed to free the area and rose the Iraqi flag on its government building and police station, a local security source told Xinhua.

The IS militants frequently fired mortar rounds and rockets on the Shiite neighborhood of Shula, in northwestern Baghdad, killing and wounding dozens of civilians during the past few months.

The IS group has seized around 80 percent of Iraq's largest province Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 10 last year, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS, an al-Qaida offshoot.

The IS has taken control of the country's northern province of Nineveh, and then seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in other predominantly Sunni provinces. Endit