Iraq army, volunteers retake control of strategic road

The Iraqi army, backed by volunteer forces, has retaken control of the strategic road connecting the holy city of Samarra to a neighboring district following fierce clashes with ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

“Violent clashes between the security forces and ISIS (ISIL) militants broke out on Samarra-Tharthar road,” an Iraqi source within the Samarra Operations Command said on Sunday.

The source noted that the Iraqi security forces killed 15 members of the ISIL Takfiri militants and destroyed “30 explosives in the area.”

“Iraqi forces regained control over the main road along with its towers and security checkpoints,” the source added.

The ISIL started its campaign of terror in Iraq in early June 2014. The heavily-armed militants took control of Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.

Iraq’s Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi said on Sunday that anti-terrorism military operations in the violence-hit country could end within months.

The ISIL terrorists, many of them foreign nationals, have taken control of some parts of Iraq’s northern and western regions. The Takfiris have been committing heinous crimes in the captured areas, including mass executions and beheadings.