Alwaght- Iraqi security forces liberated four villages near Mosul located north of Baghdad from the ISIS terrorist group, continuing a push to flush the extremists out of the city.
A statement issued by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command on Friday said that security personnel had taken control of the villages of al-Bazajleh, al-Marir, Imam Gharbi and al-Tale’ah, which lie on the suburbs of the town of Qayyarah and more than 60 kilometers south of Mosul, PressTV reported.
The statement added that scores of terrorists were killed and seven vehicles rigged with explosives destroyed during the operations.
Hisham al-Hashimi, a consultant to the Baghdad government on the anti-ISIS campaign, has said the operation for the liberation of Mosul is slated for late September.
According to Iraqi officials, high-ranking ISIS commanders and their families have sold their belongings and fled Mosul as Iraqi forces are closing in on the northern Iraqi city.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since ISIS terrorists mounted their offensive in June 2014. The militants have been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.
The Iraqi army and fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces have been engaged in joint operations to retake militant-held regions
