60 ISIL Terrorists, including commanders killed in western Iraq

At least 60 ISIL Takfiri terrorists, including top commanders of the group, have been killed by Iraqi forces in the restive province of Anbar in western Iraq.

Iraq’s Ministry of Interior released a statement on Sunday, saying the terrorists were killed in the district of al-Qa’im, located in west of Anbar, IraqiNews reported.

“Security forces, with support from the Army’s Air Force, have managed to conduct a painful strike on ISIL sites in the area of al-Qa’im,” the ministry spokesman General Officer Saad Mo’en said in the statement.

“The operation resulted in killing 60 terrorists, including a number of top leaders within the ISIL group,” the spokesman added.

Mo’en further noted that “Abu Sumayyah, the ISIL military leader for the district,” was among the terrorists killed in the strike.

Iraqi army and volunteer forces fully liberated the village of Albu Ajil, located east of the militant-held strategic city of Tikrit, in the northern province of Salahuddin.

Iraqi forces also liberated the town of Qaryat al-Rashad, located roughly 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of Baghdad, following intense exchanges of fire with ISIL Takfiris.

The Iraqi army has inflicted heavy losses on the Takfiri group since March 2 when Iraq launched its operation to free the strategic city of Tikrit, located 140 km (86 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Iraqi soldiers, backed by volunteer fighters, retook an airport in the town of al-Dour, located more than 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad, on Friday.

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.

Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, Shia volunteers and Sunni tribesmen are engaged in battles with the terrorists to drive them back from the areas they have under control.