SALAHUDDIN, Iraq
At least 25 militants were killed in a gun battle with Iraqi troops in the northern city of Tikrit, an Iraqi commander said Friday.
All the militants belonged to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or the ISIL, who were slain in clashes with security forces when they attacked a university in the city, General Abdulwahhab es-Saidi, Commander of Operations in the Salahuddin province said.
Es-Saidi told Anadolu Agency that the Iraqi troops also destroyed five pick-up trucks equipped with heavy weapons and the ISIL militants withdrew from the area after suffering alleged heavy losses.
Iraqi soldiers also defused nearly 100 mines planted on a highway that connects Tikrit and Baiji cities, an Iraqi official said.
The fight between the Iraqi army and the ISIL militants has been ongoing in Iraq since mid-June, when the group took control of Mosul, the second-largest city in the country.
According to the UN, an estimated 1.8 million citizens have been internally displaced this year throughout Iraq.
www.aa.com.tr/en
