Iraq launches operation to purge Samarra Island

Security forces in Iraq have launched a military operation in order to purge a district in Salahuddin Province of Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

The Iraqi army, anti-terrorism units and federal police along with volunteer forces, are taking part in the operation which is provided air cover, the al-Sumaria television network said Tuesday.

The operation in the Samarra island, as it called without being an island, comes in the wake of a recent rise in terrorist bombings which have killed more than 100 people in the capital Baghdad.

On Monday, at least 34 people were killed and more than 40 others injured in a bomb attack in the town of Muqdadiyah in the Diyala Province.

Following the bomb attack, Iraq’s army imposed a curfew in Muqdadiyah. Three days of public mourning were also declared in the town.

Yehia Rasoul, the commander of Iraq’s joint operations, attributed the rise in the terrorist attacks to Daesh’s attempts to boost the morale of its militants following recent army advances.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh terrorists began an offensive through Iraqi territory in June 2014.

Iraqi army soldiers and fighters from Popular Mobilization units are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint operations.