Iraqi officials hailed on Wednesday
the progress achieved by government troops on the second day of
a military operation aimed at dislodging Islamic State (ISIS)
militants from a key area north of the capital, Baghdad, the
Associated Press reported.
On Tuesday, Iraqi troops, backed by aerial support and
paramilitary forces, launched a new push to retake a sprawling
desert area outside the central city of Samarra, 95 kilometers
(60 miles) north of Baghdad, with the aim to cut ISIS supply
lines and to tighten the grip around the ISIS-held northern city
of Mosul.
"We have achieved a big success," the commander of the Iraqi
Air Force, Staff General Hamid al-Maliki, said in a video
distributed by the Defense Ministry adding that government
forces had progressed farther than expected so far.
He hailed the paramilitary forces, which are mainly
composed of Shiite militiamen, as playing "a big role" alongside
government security forces.
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