Iraqi Army Repels ISIL’s Attack in Southwestern Kirkuk

The ISIL terrorists tried to cut the Iraqi forces’ supply routes from al-Rashad and al-Riyadh regions towards al-Fatheh region in Southwestern Kirkuk, but they were pushed back by the army and Hashd al-Shaabi.

At least 15 ISIL terrorists were killed and tens of others were wounded in clashes with Iraqi forces in Southwestern Kirkuk.

The remaining terrorists fled the scene.

The ISIL terrorist group is trying to disrupt the concentration of the Iraqi forces in the Northern parts of Salahuddin province and the Northern countryside of Mosul by penetrating into these regions.

The terrorists are also trying to cut the flow of equipment and forces from Central Iraq to Nineveh province, but they have failed.

In a relevant development on Sunday, a senior commander of the Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) disclosed that the ISIL’s supply routes are being disconnected one after another from the West of the city of Mosul to the Syrian border.

“The Iraqi joint military forces are planning to cut all the supply routes of the ISIL terrorist group from the Western flank of Mosul towards Syria’s border regions where Tal Afar region plays a strategic role,” Mohammad al-Basri told FNA.

He reiterated that the ISIL has been surprised by Hashd al-Shaabi’s military operations in Western Mosul.

“The Iraqi volunteer forces has started its operation to win back villages and towns located in the Northern part of Tal Afar airport and advance towards Iraq-Syria border after seizing back Tal Abta Westward of Tal Afar,” al-Basri added.

Iraqi forces liberated more areas in the Western areas of Nineveh Province as part of an operation to retake the province and its capital Mosul from the ISIL terrorists.

A Hashd al-Shaabi commander said the Iraqi forces have flushed the terrorists out of ten villages West of the city of Tal Afar.

The commander reiterated that the gains were made during the fifth phase of the Nineveh liberation operations that took three days.

Iraqi forces also managed to establish control over a key highway linking Tal Afar to Tal Abta.

ISIL terrorists used the road for transporting arms and vehicles. This comes as Iraqi counter-terrorism units are only a couple of kilometers away from recapturing the whole Eastern side of the provincial capital Mosul.