Iraqi Forces Make Fresh Advances Against ISIL

BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Iraqi troops, supported by volunteers, are making advances in their fight against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in the province of Salahuddin, north of the capital, Baghdad.

Date: 25 October 2014 - 20:53

News ID: ۶۶۶۴

The government forces, who have been battling the terrorist group for nearly six months now, pushed ahead toward two districts in the province. They had earlier mopped up one of the main roads leading to the districts of the Takfiris.
The forces, meanwhile, cleared the area during their anti-ISIL offensive in Salahuddin, discovering and defusing dozens of explosive devices and car bombs.
The fresh gains came after Iraqi armed forces recaptured the town of Jurf al-Sakhr, southwest of Baghdad, from the ISIL terrorists.
More than 40 terrorists were also killed in fierce clashes with Iraqi soldiers in a district south of the capital. The army troops also seized a large cache of ammunition from the terrorists.
The Iraqi troops have pledged to make more gains in the coming weeks.
The ISIL terrorists have seized large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, terrorizing all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians in the areas they are controlling.
Kurds to Send Forces to Kobani
Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region has decided to send reinforcement troops to the Syrian city of Kobani next week to aid Kurds fighting against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.
"The forces that will be sent are support forces and their number will not exceed 200 fighters," AFP quoted Halgord Hekmat, a spokesman for the ministry responsible for the Kurdish fighters also known as Peshmerga, as saying on Friday.
"We are not able to specify the day but it will definitely be during the next week," he added.
The Kurdish official declined to provide details on the exact route through which the forces will be sent to Kobani. Reports, however, said that the forces will be probably sent to the strategic border city via Turkey.
The Kurdish spokesman also said the Peshmerga forces will be equipped with automatic weapons, mortars and rocket launchers.
The decision could be a turning point in the battle in the Syrian Kurdish city.
Meanwhile, Syrian Kurdish fighters in Kobani denied reports of an agreement with Turkey to allow in the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) terrorists to fight the ISIL terrorists.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier said that the Syrian Kurds had "accepted 1,300 people from the Free Syrian Army and they are holding talks to determine the transit route."
The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) has accused Ankara of helping the ISIL terrorists by turning a blind eye to at least 120 terrorists crossing the border into Syria earlier this week.
Kobani and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with the ISIL terrorists capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages.
The ISIL advance in the region has forced tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds to flee into Turkey, which is a stone’s throw from Kobani.
Turkey continues to block any delivery of military, medical or humanitarian assistance into Kobani where the ISIL terrorists are feared to be aiming at massive bloodletting.
Analysts say Ankara, having already won the US green light, plans to let the terrorists seize the Kurdish town of Kobani before sending tanks and troops to fight them in a bid to capture and possibility annex the Syrian territory.