• Home
• /
• World
• /
• MENA

52 Daesh militants killed in battle to free Iraqi town

Baghdad - The troops killed 14 militants and destroyed a booby-trapped vehicle during the clashes that also resulted in the killing of three soldiers.

At least 52 Daesh militants were killed on Saturday in airstrikes and clashes with security forces fighting to liberate a town in Iraq's western province of Anbar, while the troops repelled an attack by extremist militants in Salahudin province, security sources said.

In Anbar province, Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary Sunni tribal fighters advanced on the Daesh-held town of Heet, some 160 km west of Baghdad, and managed to seize Al Ma'mil district on the eastern edge of the town after heavy clashes with Daesh militants, a provincial security source told Xinhua requesting not to be named.

The troops killed 14 militants and destroyed a booby-trapped vehicle during the clashes that also resulted in the killing of three soldiers and the wounding of four others, the source said.

The battles continued at the end of the day as the troops progress toward the central part of the town was slowed to give opportunity to thousands of civilians trapped between the troops' lines and the Daesh militants in downtown Heet.

Meanwhile, teams of explosive experts are defusing dozens of roadside bombs and booby-trapped vehicles and buildings planted earlier by militants on the roads leading to the town, the source added.

Also in the province, US-led coalition warplanes bombarded Daesh positions in the areas of Albu Bali, Albu Shihab and Albu Shejil in east of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, leaving at least 35 Daesh militants killed and destroying four of their vehicles, the source said.

Iraqi security forces are currently attempting to recapture the rest of the provinces of Anbar and Salahudin, as they simultaneously prepare a major offensive against the Daesh-held city of Mosul.