Islamic State Loses Control Over Jurf al-Sakhar To Iraqi Military
Vittorio Hernandez | | Oct 27, 2014 04:52 AM EDT |
(Photo : pamelageller) ISIS militants accepts pledge of allegiance from Nigerian militant group Boko Haram.
The town of Jurf al-Sakhar in Iraq is no longer held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, as it has reverted to control of the country's armed forces on Sunday.
Babil provincial spokesperson Col. Muthana Khalid explained that the change is a result of a battle which resulted in the death or injury to 300 IS fighters and 67 Iraqi soldiers and Shiites dead or injured. The latter two fought side-by-side to recapture the town held by the IS since June.
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"Our soldiers raised the Iraqi flag over government offices and buildings in the town," SF Gate quoted Khalid on Sunday. "It is another victory achieved against the terrorists."
Shiite militia and the Kurdish Peshmarga supported the Iraqi military, although the victory don't often happen for the Iraqi troops battling the well-funded Islamist extremists.
Located 30 miles south of the Iraq's capitol Baghdad, Jurf al-Shakar is made up mostly of Sunni communities, the report added.
The Long War Journal reports also that the town of Zumar also fell back to Iraqi armed forces. Zumar and two other adjacent owns were seized back from the militant group after the U.S. Central Command launched 10 airstrikes simultaneous with the combat battle by Iraqi soldiers.
The air strikes damaged several IS units, one building, 10 key posts and staging grounds.
After the fall of Jurf al-Sakhar, bomb specialists were spotted deactivating explosives buried by the Islamic State forces on the road to prevent the army forces from setting foot on the town.
Every first week of November, Shiites usually take the paths of Juad al-Shakar to reach Karbala, just in time for death anniversary of Imam Hussein, a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, whom Muslims consider Allah's messenger.
The town likewise plays a vital role in easing the flow of soldiers and armamants from Anbar to other cities and towns of the nothern and southern provinces of Iraq. When Jurf al-Shakar was still controlled by the IS, the extremists used the town as starting point to hit Karbala.
TagsISIS, Iraq, Jurf al-Sakhar, Iraqi military, Sunni
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