Falcon29
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Militants attack Iraq's Samarra, sparking heavy fighting | Maan News Agency
SAMARRA, Iraq (AFP) -- Militants launched a major attack on the Iraqi city of Samarra Thursday and occupied several neighborhoods, sparking house-to-house fighting and helicopter strikes in which dozens of people were reportedly killed.
Security forces ultimately regained control of the militant-held areas, a senior army officer said, but the attack was yet another example of the long reach of militants in Iraq.
On Thursday morning, militants travelling in dozens of vehicles, some mounted with anti-aircraft guns, attacked a major checkpoint on the southeast side of Samarra, killing the security forces guarding it and burning their vehicles, witnesses said.
They then took control of several areas of the city, located north of Baghdad, according to witnesses, who reported seeing the bodies of both security forces and gunmen in the streets.
The assault sparked heavy fighting, and a police officer said reinforcements including members of Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces were dispatched to Samarra to combat the militants.
At one point, an AFP journalist saw helicopters firing into the city.
Staff Lieutenant General Sabah al-Fatlawi said on Thursday night that security forces and tribal fighters were able to regain control of the city.
"We have completely dismissed the armed groups from Samarra and we are now pursuing them outside the city," Fatlawi said.
"We were able to kill 80 (militants) in strikes and attacks and clashes, from house to house and one street to another," he said.
A police colonel and a doctor said that 12 police were killed in the violence.
Militants also attacked the home of Science and Technology Minister Abdulkarim al-Samarraie in the Khadra area of Samarra, killing three of his guards, police and a doctor said.
In other violence on Thursday, bombings in the Baghdad area killed three people, while four more were shot dead with silenced weapons in the northern city of Mosul, security and medical officials said.
Security forces killed 40 militants south of Mosul and one inside the city, officials said.
The assault in Samarra came as a standoff between anti-government fighters and security forces in Iraq's Anbar province, west of Baghdad, entered its sixth month.
.......................
More fabricated numbers by the Al-Haliki regime, LOL.
They should try this again, liberate Iraq inch by inch.
@1000 @Dizer
SAMARRA, Iraq (AFP) -- Militants launched a major attack on the Iraqi city of Samarra Thursday and occupied several neighborhoods, sparking house-to-house fighting and helicopter strikes in which dozens of people were reportedly killed.
Security forces ultimately regained control of the militant-held areas, a senior army officer said, but the attack was yet another example of the long reach of militants in Iraq.
On Thursday morning, militants travelling in dozens of vehicles, some mounted with anti-aircraft guns, attacked a major checkpoint on the southeast side of Samarra, killing the security forces guarding it and burning their vehicles, witnesses said.
They then took control of several areas of the city, located north of Baghdad, according to witnesses, who reported seeing the bodies of both security forces and gunmen in the streets.
The assault sparked heavy fighting, and a police officer said reinforcements including members of Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces were dispatched to Samarra to combat the militants.
At one point, an AFP journalist saw helicopters firing into the city.
Staff Lieutenant General Sabah al-Fatlawi said on Thursday night that security forces and tribal fighters were able to regain control of the city.
"We have completely dismissed the armed groups from Samarra and we are now pursuing them outside the city," Fatlawi said.
"We were able to kill 80 (militants) in strikes and attacks and clashes, from house to house and one street to another," he said.
A police colonel and a doctor said that 12 police were killed in the violence.
Militants also attacked the home of Science and Technology Minister Abdulkarim al-Samarraie in the Khadra area of Samarra, killing three of his guards, police and a doctor said.
In other violence on Thursday, bombings in the Baghdad area killed three people, while four more were shot dead with silenced weapons in the northern city of Mosul, security and medical officials said.
Security forces killed 40 militants south of Mosul and one inside the city, officials said.
The assault in Samarra came as a standoff between anti-government fighters and security forces in Iraq's Anbar province, west of Baghdad, entered its sixth month.
.......................
More fabricated numbers by the Al-Haliki regime, LOL.
They should try this again, liberate Iraq inch by inch.
@1000 @Dizer
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