Baghdad, Sep 12 (IANS): Iraqi security forces on Monday killed 80 Islamic State (IS) terrorists during a search campaign in the liberated areas near the city of Tal Afar, the Iraqi military said.
The soldiers of the 15 Infantry Division, backed by helicopter gunships, killed 65 IS terrorists and 15 suicide bombers wearing explosive belts at a village near the town of Ayadhiyah, some 11km north of Tal Afar, Xinhua news agency cited a the Joint Operations Command (JOC) statement as saying.
The troops also destroyed two vehicles and four IS hideouts, it said.
Several terrorists fled the area and surrendered to the nearby defensive line of the Kurdish Pehmerga forces at the edge of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, the statement added.
On August 31, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared full liberation of the city of Tal Afar and surrounding areas from the extremist IS terrorists.