Police kill nine Islamic State suicide attackers in northern Salahuddin
A sniper of the Iraqi Federal Police takes his position at a destroyed builiding near Islamic State fighters’ positions at Bab al Jadid district in the old city of Mosul, Iraq, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Maj. Gen. Saad Maan, Interior Ministry’s spokesperson, said in a statement on Saturday, “nine IS suicide bombers were killed, today, by police of the eastern side of Shirqat, north of Salahuddin, while combing Shatei’ al-Jadar village.”
Federal Police announced, late September, liberation of eastern Shirqat, the group’s holdout in north of the province. 225 militants had been killed since the launch of operations in Shirqat.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and the Joint Operations Command announced launch of first phase of operations to liberate Hawija and western Shirqat. Federal Police, Rapid Response and the pro-government Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) took part in the attack, according to the command.
The Iraqi army said in September 2016 its forces recaptured the western coast of Shirqat, located south of Mosul, on the west bank of the Tigris river, after being surrounded for months by Iraqi troops and the pro-government Shi’ite militias.
Iraqi troops still have only western Anbar’s towns of Rawa and Qaim remain under the militant’s control. Iraqi troops recaptured the town of Annah, a third IS holdout neighboring those two towns, late September.