Iraqi army recaptures key districs in Samarra

Rasa - Iraqi media says the army has recaptured two key districts of the holy city of Samarra as fierce clashes rage on between government forces and the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

News ID: 1808

Date: 13 December 2014 - 00:37

RNA - At least 15 ISIL terrorists, including a top leader, were killed in fierce clashes between Iraqi forces and ISIL on the southern outskirts of the city on Friday.

Raed al-Jabouri, governor of Salahuddin Province, announced Friday that the Iraqi armed forces have pushed terrorists out of the Mukayshifah neighborhood.

The Iraqi forces, along with Sunni and Shia volunteers, also managed to liberate the Mutassim district on Thursday.

Iraq’s senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has warned that ISIL is threatening the holy city of Samarra.

The cleric’s representative, Sheikh Abdel-Mahdi al-Karbalai, said in the holy city of Karbala on Friday, “Iraqi troops have achieved important victories in several areas on Daesh (ISIL) elements.”

Ayatollah Sistani urged greater military effort to recapture the areas that are still under the ISIL control.

Thousands of Shia volunteers are preparing to purge Takfiris from areas close to Samarra, which has two important Shia shrines.

The city, located around 110 kilometers (68 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, is home to the shrines of the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams, Ali al-Hadi (PBUH) and Hasan al-Askari (PBUH).

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