LOC01:03
22:03 GMT
BAGHDAD, Nov 23 (KUNA) -- Dijla Operations Command said the army managed to liberate Al-Saadiya and Jalawla towns in the eastern governorate of Diyala, from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Sunday.
The military operation to recapture Al-Saadiya was backed by popular mobilization forces (qowat Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi in Arabic), while Jalawla operation was backed by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, a military source told KUNA.
"Both operations started this morning from three directions with the air force and the artillery taking part," the source said, noting that explosive experts defused dozens of road-side bomb planted by ISIL militants.
Seven soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in the two operations while ISIL suffered dozens of deaths and large material damage.
The military forces are still tracking down the ISIL militants in their few remaining pockets before declaring the full liberation of the governorate, he added. (end)
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