74 Daesh militants, 17 Iraqi forces killed in clashes

BAGHDAD

At least 74 Daesh members and 17 Iraqi security personnel were killed Sunday in Saladin and Anbar provinces, security sources said.

Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat from central police, told Anadolu Agency that his forces in Saladin "targeted a group of Daesh militants that tried to sneak by boats through Tigris River. At least 10 were killed and the boats were destroyed."

A statement by Badr Organization -- a faction of al-Hashd al-Shaabi Shia militia -- said "30 Daesh militants were killed in clashes in al-Fat-ha area."

Also, a security source who wished to remain anonymous told Anadolu Agency that "17 security personnel were killed and a number of security forces and al-Hashd al-Shaabi were injured in clashes in al-Fat-ha area."

Al-Fat-ha area is located between Saladin, Kirkuk and Diyala provinces.

Meanwhile in Anbar, a security source from Anbar province’s operations command said that Iraqi air force targeted a Daesh explosives factory in al-Muallemin neighborhood early Sunday in central Fallujah, leaving 21 militants killed and 13 others injured.

Also, another security source said that "six Daesh militants were killed in al-Muallemin neighborhood while preparing a car bomb by planting an improvised explosive device into a vehicle."

In Ninawa province, Katari al-Obaidi, a tribal chief in al-Baghdadi district, told Anadolu Agency that "Iraqi army and tribal fighters backed by Iraqi air force managed to kill seven Daesh militants and injured five others while sneaking into the residential complex of the district."

In Mosul, a security source told Anadolu Agency that "Daesh executed 25 former army soldiers and officers in al-Ghozlani base located southwest of Mosul."

Daesh had previously abducted the army personnel and executed them, stating they were cooperating with the Iraqi army and the Kurdish peshmerga forces.

Iraq was plunged into a security vacuum in June 2014 when Daesh stormed the northern province of Mosul and declared what it called a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.