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Iraqi fighter jets kill over a dozen ISIL terrorists

Iran Press TV

Tue Jun 24, 2014 1:12PM GMT

Iraqi army warplanes have pounded several areas in the strategic oil town of Baiji, killing over a dozen Takfiri militants and injuring several others.

The causalities come after warplanes targeted militants' hideouts in the town of Baiji and its surroundings on Tuesday.

Iraqi media reports say at least 17 others were severely injured in the raids.

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials say 19 people including civilians have been killed as a result of the ongoing violence in the same troubled region.

This comes as the army and thousands of volunteers are trying to repel the militants' renewed push to seize Iraq's largest oil refinery north of Baghdad.

The militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claim they have captured the refinery. However, the army says it is in full control of the site.

The strategically important refinery has been the scene of heavy fighting since militants launched a major offensive on June 9. It has filled some 50 percent of Iraq's demand for refined oil products.

In a separate development, the Iraqi army soldiers are conducting mop-up operations in the east and north of the country, dealing a heavy blow to militants.

The armed forces have gunned down an unspecified number of militants from the ISIL in the eastern Diyala Province.

According to local media reports, an airstrike has targeted a group of ISIL militants hiding in a building in Mosul in the northwest. Military officials say government forces are now in full control of southern areas in Tal Afar, west of Mosul.

The Iraqi forces have also killed at least 80 militants in the north of Samarra in Salahuddin Province. The army says more than 20 vehicles were also destroyed in that operation.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that the country's security forces would confront the terrorists, calling the seizure of some Iraqi towns a "conspiracy." The premier has also blamed Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the security crisis and growing terrorism in his country, denouncing Riyadh as a major supporter of global terrorism.

JR/NN/SL