Iraqi Forces Recapture Hamrin from ISIL

Iraqi forces backed by volunteer fighters [Hashed Shaabi] had managed to recapture the northern town of Hamrin in Iraq’s Salahuddin Province.

The Iraqi forces retook control of the town, which is located northeast of Samarra city, from the ISIL terrorist group during an operation.

At least four ISIL militants were killed and several others wounded during the operation.

The new military achievement came as the Iraqi armed forces were engaged in fierce clashes with the ISIL terrorists near the city of Tikrit.

Iraqi troops and volunteer forces had so far recaptured four districts and a village in Salahuddin Province, very close to the capital, Tikrit.

The troops had brought down an ISIL flag from a communication tower in one of the liberated areas.

This was the army’s biggest offensive to retake Tikrit. The city is one of the main strongholds of the ISIL terrorists.

More than 30,000 Iraqi troops, supported by volunteers were zeroing in on the city.
Located some 130 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad, Tikrit was overrun by the ISIL terrorists in summer 2014 along with Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul and other areas in the country.

Tikrit had a strategic position as it sits on the road to Mosul.

The ISIL terrorists control parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria. They had been engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control.

Earlier, the terror group released a video showing the purported execution of four tribesmen in the Tikrit region for allegedly collaborating with the Iraqi government.