Iraqi army, volunteer forces launch operation against terrorists in Salahuddin

An intensive mop-up operation started in Salahuddin province on Monday. A military force was able to break into the Southern entrance of Tikrit and raise the Iraqi flag on the Police Academy building.

A security source in Salahuddin province said that violent clashes broke out between security forces and ISIL Takfiris northeast of Samarra which led to the liberation of Banat Hassan, Jalam, Abbasi, Sour Shnas and Sheikh Mohammad areas from ISIL terrorists. This came in conjunction with the progress of the forces from Samarra towards the city of Dour.

The security forces also managed to free the area of Albu Hassani east of the Dour which was the safe haven for ISIL terrorists for the past 6 months.

The operations started on different fronts, and from different directions. The Samarra operations started from the city of Samara, while the Al-Alam operations started from Tuz Khormato and Tikrit operations took place from Makishifa district, all at once. This is the strategy used by Iraqi forces in this particular operation.

The mop-up operation in Salaheddin will continue until the full liberation of the province from ISIL terrorists. Iraqi forces are optimistic about this operation and they are determined to flush out Takfiri terrorists from Tikrit by the end of the week.