KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish Peshmerga forces have further pushed Islamic State fighters in the southern regions of Kirkuk province, defusing the ISIS threat to strategic oilfields, military officials said.
Peshmerga commanders said Sunday their forces were only 18 kilometers from the center of Hawija, which is south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. They said they had deployed heavy weapons and troops in the area.
Hawaija is located 55 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk, and ISIS militants have been fleeing there from Tikrit, where the Iraqi Army has been advancing against the militants in a joint offensive with Iranian-backed Shiite militias for more than 10 days.
Sources in Tikrit said Sunday that Ali al-Moussawi, a popular figure and key commander of Shiite militia fighters, had been killed in intense overnight clashes with ISIS near Tikrit.
Moussawi is the second important Shiite commander killed in the fight over Tikrit, following the death of Mahdi Nouri al-Kinani.
Peshmerga artillery forces shelled ISIS militants in a fierce battle alongside the Shiite militia known as Hashd al-Shabi in the village of Bashir in Kirkuk province on Saturday.
The Shiite People’s Mobilization Forces had been struggling for four days to take control of Bashir, located 25 km south of Kirkuk city.
Last week, Kurdish forces backed by coalition airstrikeslaunched a large-scale campaign that managed to clear ISIS from large tracts of territory south of Kirkuk and its oilfields.
Peshmerga commanders said Sunday their forces were only 18 kilometers from the center of Hawija, which is south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. They said they had deployed heavy weapons and troops in the area.
Hawaija is located 55 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk, and ISIS militants have been fleeing there from Tikrit, where the Iraqi Army has been advancing against the militants in a joint offensive with Iranian-backed Shiite militias for more than 10 days.
Sources in Tikrit said Sunday that Ali al-Moussawi, a popular figure and key commander of Shiite militia fighters, had been killed in intense overnight clashes with ISIS near Tikrit.
Moussawi is the second important Shiite commander killed in the fight over Tikrit, following the death of Mahdi Nouri al-Kinani.
Peshmerga artillery forces shelled ISIS militants in a fierce battle alongside the Shiite militia known as Hashd al-Shabi in the village of Bashir in Kirkuk province on Saturday.
The Shiite People’s Mobilization Forces had been struggling for four days to take control of Bashir, located 25 km south of Kirkuk city.
Last week, Kurdish forces backed by coalition airstrikeslaunched a large-scale campaign that managed to clear ISIS from large tracts of territory south of Kirkuk and its oilfields.
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