Iraqi forces prevent new suicide attacks against Tikrit

War media cell revealed that Popular Mobilization Forces managed to counter ISIS attacks against the Iraqi city of Tikrit. Meanwhile the Iraqi forces revealed that it currently controls over 90 percent of Mousl’s territories in the framework of the current operations to liberate the Iraqi city from the grip of extremist group.

According to a statement, the forces managed to counter an attack for the extremist group against Beji, saying that they managed to kill four suicide bombers. It added that three suicide bombers attempted to carry out a terrorist attack against housing building, saying that the Iraqi forces managed to kill them with no losses.

According to security sources, A curfew has been imposed in Tikrit, Salahuddin Governorate. The sources said the curfew would take effect as of 6:00 pm till a further notice over a series of bombings and violent clashes in the city.

All entrances and exits of the city have been closed, police said.  On Tuesday evening, a string of explosive belts bombings hit Tikrit, followed by violent clashes between the joint forces and ISIS terrorists who claimed the bombings. 

Death toll from the bombings and clashes jumped to 35 while 40 were injured. Most of the victims belong to the Joint forces. Police sources confirmed to The Baghdad Post that the Joint Forces in Tikrit had called for further reinforcements. Salahuddin governor Ahmed Jabouri announced all governmental facilities were closed over security concerns. 

According to member of Salahuldin Local Council’s member Mohamed Toqa, 250 elements of Popular Mobilization Forces entered the city of Tikrit to protect its stability and to confront any potential attack from the extremist elements against the city during the coming period.

He added the situation is under control during the current period, calling the security and military forces to take the serious actions against any attempt to violate the security situation in the city.

Security committee of Salahuddin province's council has blamed security officials for the infiltrations occurred at several districts of the city.

One of the key reasons why these infiltrations take place is that there are no proper measures taken when it comes dealing with the bulk numbers of displaced people in the city, member of Salahuddin provincial council Khalid Jassam said in a press release. 

After this breach took place, the forces managed to sort things out within a single hour and combed the districts of al-Zuhur and al-Arbaein to prevent other attacks from happening, the official added.

The province has diverse political trends, and they are not the reason of security breaches or the terrorist attacks, Jassam stated, noting that the province also contains displaced people from Mosul and Anbar.

In Salahuddin, there are joint operations in which senior officials from Diyala and Anbar are participating. Conflicts on who is worth commanding some areas or seizing some territories emerge, so security breaches take place, he concluded.