Iraqi forces launch offensive on ISIL in Dhuluiyah

BAGHDAD - Agence France-Presse

Iraqi security forces stand on a destroyed vehicle belonging to the Islamic State militants on the outskirt of Ramadi. REUTERS Photo

Iraqi forces backed by Sunni tribes advanced into the town of Dhuluiyah north of Baghdad on Dec. 28 in a new attempt to push out Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), officials said.

In October, Iraqi forces retook most of Dhuluiyah from ISIL, but the jihadists later launched a counter-offensive and were able to seize ground they had lost.

A Sunni tribe in the south of the town, 90 kilometers north of the capital, had been holding out against relentless attacks for nearly six months.

Iraqi forces launched their latest offensive on Dec. 26, attacking jihadist positions on several fronts and capturing a string of villages south of Dhuluiyah, military officials said.

On Dec. 28 the troops finally entered from the north backed by the air force, and seized the airport just outside the town.

"The armed forces have entered Dhuluiyah... they are reinforcing their positions," an army officer told AFP.

He said soldiers were still facing some pockets of resistance from snipers and were treading carefully to avoid landmines sown by the jihadists.

A policeman who took part in the offensive confirmed that the airport just north of the town had been captured. Iraqi forces are trying to tighten the noose around the jihadists, he said.

Dhuluiyah is strategically located on roads linking the eastern province of Diyala to Salaheddin province in the north.

In November, Iraqi forces retook the strategic town of Baiji and its refinery from the ISIL.

Baiji is the largest town to be retaken by government troops since ISIL-led militants overran much of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland in June, subsequently declaring an Islamic "caliphate" in Iraqi and Syrian territory.

After their victory in Baiji, an army brigadier said the military would seek next to isolate militants holding the city of Tikrit, home town of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and also close in on Samarra.