Iraq forces repulse IS attacks
TIKRIT: Iraqi forces on Thursday repulsed counter-attacks by IS in the country’s north, where US-backed government forces are attempting to drive the extremist group from its last stronghold in the country.
Five Iraqi soldiers and two IS fighters were killed in the clashes, a security official said, adding that other militants had been forced to retreat and a major road in the area had been temporarily closed due to the violence.
Early on Thursday, the militants had mounted two coordinated attacks on the northern and western outskirts of the northern town of Baiji, where Iraq’s main oil refinery is located.
The assaults triggered clashes between the assailants and government forces, backed by the militias the Popular Mobilization.
Army warplanes and ground reinforcements were dispatched to the area to back up government forces battling the extremists there.
Baiji, some 220 kilometres north of Baghdad, has been repeatedly attacked by IS in recent months.
Thursday’s violence comes a day after at least 35 people were killed in multiple attacks by IS insurgents in the city of Tikrit, some 170 kilometres north of Baghdad.
In recent months, IS has stepped up attacks in several parts of Iraq in an attempt to distract attention from the ongoing government campaign to dislodge the extremist group from Mosul.
On February 19, Iraq started an onslaught to dislodge IS from the western section of Mosul, almost a month after they had expelled the extremists from the eastern side of the city.
The operation to retake western Mosul is complicated because of its population density and narrow, congested streets. IS seized Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, in mid-2014.
Meanwhile, two Iraqi army pilots were killed on Thursday when their helicopter was shot down over the city of Mosul by IS, according to a military statement.
The helicopter was providing air support to Federal Police forces battling IS fighters on the western side of Mosul, the statement said.
It is the first aircraft downed by IS over Mosul since the start of the USbacked offensive on the northern Iraqi city, in October.
IS’s news agency Amaq said the helicopter crashed in Al Ghabat, east of the Tigris river which runs through Mosul. The Iraqi military statement also located the crash on the eastern side, which was recaptured from the militants in January, after 100 days of fighting.
The insurgents are putting up stiff resistance in the remaining district under their control in northwestern Mosul and the densely populated Old City.