Iraqi forces preparing to retake northern city from ISIL
Units of Iraqi government forces backed by Shia and Sunni fighters are preparing to recapture a city in the northern province of Kirkuk, as they try to wrest control of the militant-held strategic city of Tikrit from Takfiri ISIL terrorists.
Military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the forces are preparing to retake Hawija, located 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad.
The sources added that Iraqi troops have already carried out a number of attacks against ISIL positions around the oil-rich provincial capital city of Kirkuk, located 236 kilometers (147 miles) north of Baghdad, and taken control of at least one village there.
Iraqi operations elsewhere
In a separate development on Monday, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces targeted the Takfiri terrorists and liberated several villages south of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
On Sunday, Iraqi forces liberated the town of Qaryat al-Rashad, located roughly 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of Baghdad, and the village of Albu Ajil, located east of Tikrit.
Iraqi government forces together with Shia volunteer and Sunni tribal fighters have battled their way north for months, notching up key victories against ISIL.
The Iraqi offensive on Tikrit, located 140 km (86 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, started on March 2.
ISIL started its campaign of terror in Iraq in early June 2014. The heavily armed terrorists took control of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.
