ISIS attack defeated in Salahadin

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Tigris operations command said on Saturday that an ISIS assault was repelled in eastern Salahadin province.

“With the help of Hashd al-Shaabi and tribal fighters, Iraqi security forces defeated a massive assault of ISIS militants on the oilfields of Allas and Ajail, in the east of Salahadin province,” said Abdul Amir Zaid, a Tigris command officer, at a press conference Sunday.

“As a result, more than 20 militants were killed, most were Chechen nationals, along with the destruction of eight vehicles equipped with heavy weapons,” Zaid added.

Meanwhile, a security source told Iraqi agencies that ISIS militants had recaptured the area of Albu Jaradian in the town of Baiji in Salahadin, and “they are on the offensive towards the western neighborhoods of Karaba and Naft in Baiji."

The Baiji setbacks came as Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid Obaidi arrived in the town of Zaluia in Salahadin to mark the establishment of the Zaluia-Balad bridge.

On June 30, Hadi al-Amri, the head of the Badr Organization, said the oilfields of Allas and Ajail had become a graveyard for ISIS militants, and that they could not return to the provinces of Diyala and Salahadin ever again.