Iraqi security forces backed by Shia volunteers gained some momentum in their bid to loosen the grip of IS, which controls large territory in the north and west of the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
After months of fighting they drove IS terrorists out of Jurf al-Sakhar, just south of Baghdad.<\/p>\n
Iraqi security forces backed by Shia volunteers launched an assault on areas around the Himreen Mountains, a hotbed of militant activity 100 kilometers south of the oil city of Kirkuk.<\/p>\n
They seized control of four villages in the area, security officials said, adding that it was very difficult to accelerate efforts to capture more territory because of roadside bombs and booby-trapped houses.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iraqi security forces backed by Shia volunteers gained some momentum in their bid to loosen the grip of IS, which controls large territory in the north and west of the country. \u00a0 After months of fighting they drove IS terrorists out of Jurf al-Sakhar, just south of Baghdad. Iraqi security forces backed by Shia volunteers …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islam","tag-iraq"],"yoast_head":"\n