Iraqi forces thwart ISIS attack Baiji

The joint Iraqi forces continued their military operations against ISIS and seized a bomb planted in a bike on the coast of Mosul, while the air forces conducted several strikes against many places held by ISIS.

The sources said that local intelligence forces found a bomb planted in a bike which the militants were planning to explode, but the forces thwarted the attack and blow it up in El-Ansar neighborhood in Mosul.

The leadership of Baghdad operations said that the intelligence forces and the fifth troops in the fourth group in the security agency managed to arrest a terrorist cell affiliating with ISIS among the so-called "Wilayat Baghdad," after they chased one of their members in the North of Iraq.

After the observation operations, the forces managed to arrest the suspect who confessed his crimes and told about his colleagues then the forces found some weapons, explosives and explosive-belts in the same area.

The leadership added that the military air forces conducted several strikes against ISIS, while troop 12 managed to face the advancement of ISIS militants in Beji and killed a number of the militants and arrested others while the rest of them fled the scene, after they incurred heavy losses.

Iraqi PM Haidar al-Abadi said during his presidency of the supreme body of a coordination meeting between the provinces that "the main objective of the government is serving the citizen," adding "the government continues the process of transfer of powers to the provinces and to emphasize the cooperation of local governments with the central government to improve the reality service to the provinces."

He said: "The political differences should not affect the work and achievement. It is not reasonable to spend another four years of the election cycle by conflict and leaves the work." He pointed out that "the best gift we offer to our heroes is to provide services to their provinces," noting that "the last year was a year of liberation and we have succeeded in that."

He said the prime minister saying: There is great cooperation between citizens and security forces in the provinces occupied by ISIS. This reinforces national unity among Iraqis and the confidence of the people of those provinces the security services, in advance thanks to other provinces, which provided assistance to the provinces liberated. "He warned groups that are trying to busy exploiting our heroine in the fighting to destabilize the security of stable provinces, confirming that we will deal with them and take punitive action against them," pointing out that "there are hidden groups behind the assassinations and provoke differences."