RNA - The ISIL launched a massive operation to break the siege of the city of Tal Afar and also open the Iraq-Syria border which was strongly confronted with the resistance of the Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) and the terrorists sustained heavy losses.
"At least 100 ISIL terrorists, including 20 commanders, were killed in the battle," the Arabic-language al-Maloumeh news website quoted an unnamed security source as saying.
Meantime, tens of military vehicles of the ISIL terrorist group were also destroyed in the tough battle which lasted for over five hours.
Also the Hashd al-Shaabi backed by the Iraqi air force destroyed 14 bomb-laden vehicles and two ISIL drones.
In a relevant development on Thursday, more than a dozen members of the ISIL terrorist group were killed in a string of operations carried out by the Iraqi air force in the country’s Northern province of Nineveh.
An Iraqi Defense Ministry statement said 15 ISIL terrorists were killed after Iraqi aircraft struck militant outposts near Mosul, Al Sumariya reported.
The attacks destroyed an ISIL command center as well as several tunnels, on which the terrorist group has relied for years to mount surprise attacks.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command also said a number of militant commanders were killed when a vehicle in which they were traveling was hit in an airstrike on the Eastern outskirts of Mosul.
Among those killed was the self-proclaimed ISIL governor of Mosul, identified as Haqqi Esmaeil Owaid also known as Abu Ahmed. Another man identified as Abu Maha, in charge of ISIL intelligence affairs, was also killed in the airstrike.
Additionally, three civilians lost their lives and four others were injured on Wednesday evening when an ISIL drone fired a rocket at the Nabi Younis market East of Mosul.
Iraqi army forces, backed by pro-government forces launched a joint operation last October to regain control of Mosul from ISIL terrorists.
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