Thirteen Islamic State militants killed in infiltration attempt in Salahuddin

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Thirteen Islamic State militants were killed in an attack against security troops in Salahuddin, the police department announced on Saturday.

“Based on intelligence information, Salahuddin Operations Command and the troops from the province’s police, backed by army jets, carried out an operation in al-Shiha village, west of Tikrit. The operation left thirteen militants killed, seven of them were sheltering in a tunnel,” the department said in a statement.

“A rest house of the militants, including TNT explosives and food supply was destroyed,” it added.

Twelve Islamic State militants were killed and injured as artillery of Al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces] shelled on Friday the militants who attempted infiltration from Hamreen mountains toward Tuz Khurmatu region, eastern Salahuddin.

Having recaptured Hawija in Kirkuk, Mosul and Tal Afar in Nineveh as well as Annah and Qaim towns in Anbar, Iraqi troops still have only western Anbar’s towns of Rawa and Qaim remain under the militant’s control.

Earlier on the day, Iraqi joint forces launched a wide-scale operation to liberate al-Rummana and Rawa regions.

Operations were launched, late October, to liberate Qaim and Rawa towns. Both have been held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic “Caliphate”.