Iraqi security forces on Thursday continued their advance to free key cities and towns in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin from the Islamic State (IS) militants, as the troops foiled sporadic counter attacks by the militants, a provincial security source said.
The troops and allied Shia and Sunni militias, covered by Iraqi air support, have reached the edges of the militant-held town of Dour, south of the provincial capital Tikrit and are progressing slowly to the town of Alam, just east of Tikrit, because the militants planted dozens of bombs on the roads leading to the towns, the source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, battles continued with the IS militants to free Ajil oilfield east of Tikrit for the second day, as the militants showed stubborn resistance, the source said.
On Thursday, the IS militants apparently set fire to the oil installations of Ajil oilfield as flames and plumes of black smoke rose above the area, the source added.
The small Ajil oilfield is one of the most important financial resources to fund the IS militant group which extracts about 10,000 barrels per day and conveys them by some 300 tanker trucks to other areas in Nineveh province and IS-held areas in Syria.
Late on Tuesday, the security forces recaptured the nearby small oilfield of Allas, which apparently was not ready to be exploited by the IS militants.
Fierce clashes erupted between the Iraqi army backed by allied Shia militias and the IS militants late on Wednesday in the two areas of Saiyd Ghareeb, about 80 km north of Baghdad, and al-Kassarat, some 40 km north of Baghdad, and continued until Thursday morning, leaving at least 10 security personnel dead and some 30 wounded, a security source told Xinhua.
Separately, dozens of IS militants riding eight vehicles attacked at dawn the security forces in M'eibid area east of the town of Alam, but were repelled by the troops and allied militias, the source said.
Meanwhile, IS suicide bombers drove three booby-trapped tanker trucks into military bases in Tal Gseiba, just east of the town of Alam, but the troops opened fire on them and blew up two trucks before they reached their targets and killed the suicide bombers on board, the source said.
The third truck managed to approach further and exploded near the troops, killing a soldier and the suicide bomber and injuring two soldiers, the source added.
Also in the province, heavy artillery shelled the positions of the IS militants on the mountainous areas east of the town of Himreen, which was freed recently from the extremist militants, he said.
The Iraqi security forces began their operation before Sunday dawn via five paths: two from Mkesheifa and Sur Shnas, south of Tikrit, two others from Udheim and Tuz Khurmato, east of Tikrit, and the last from the Speicher airbase, just north of Tikrit, according to security sources.
The offensive was aimed at sealing off the city of Tikrit and the nearby towns of Dour and al-Alam, which are under IS control, by seizing the main roads and villages around them.
Large parts of Salahudin province have been under IS control since June 11, a day after bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS group, which took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territory in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.
