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Iraqi military on offensive agsint IS in central Salahudin province

Xinhua, June 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Iraqi security forces on Wednesday launched an operation to drive the Islamic State (IS) militants out of the areas west of the city of Samarra, central Salahudin province, while extremist jihadists shut the gates of a dam in Ramadi, security sources said.

In Salahudin province, security forces and allied militias, known as Hashd Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization, carried out in the morning an operation aimed at clearing the areas in west of Samarra, some 120 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and the strategic desert roads leading to the militant-seized city of Fallujah in the neighboring Anbar province, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

So far, the forces recaptured large area in west of Samarra where they destroyed several IS positions, leaving many militants dead and three of the vehicles destroyed, including one carrying heavy machine gun, the source said, adding that the offensive will continue until cutting all the supply routes of the extremist group in the area between the provinces of Salahudin and Anbar.

Since March 2, dozens of thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias have involved in Iraq's biggest offensive to recapture the northern part of Salahudin province, including Tikrit and other key towns and villages, from IS militants.

In Anbar province, IS militants closed the gates of Ramadi dam on a canal that goes to Habbaniyah Lake, apparently, in order to reduce the water level of the lake so that they can cross to the adjacent military base of Habbaniyah and the nearby town of Khaldiyah, some 80 km west of Baghdad, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua.

Separately, security forces repelled an attack by IS militants on Juwaiba area in east of Anbar's provincial capital city of Ramadi, the source said without giving further details about casualties.

The troops and allied militias also managed to detonate two suicide car bombs by anti-tank guided missiles before they reached their targets, the source added.

The violence in Anbar came about a week after Iraqi security forces and allied militias commenced a military offensive aimed at driving out the IS militants from Ramadi, which the militants took full control of it on May 17 after Iraqi security forces withdrew from their positions.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since last June, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and IS militants. Endit