Iraq Drives ISIS Fighters Out Of Baghdad

This is after the forces moved in following effective air strikes by the US military.

The US troops have been training the Iraqi soldiers for the past one month after the IS militants took over the town

On Friday, IS militants bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in Iraq.

According to Iraqi officials, they had begun demolishing the site, which was founded in the 13th Century BC, on Thursday.

This was condemned by the head of the UN's cultural agency term it as a war crime.

IS has been controlling large areas of Iraq and Syria and has maintained that shrines and statues are false idols that have to be smashed.

MAJOR OFFENSIVE

Iraqi forces have said they are making progress in their major offensive aimed at retaking the city of Tikrit, which lies between Mosul and the capital, Baghdad.

According to sources, the operation to recapture the city involves some 30,000 soldiers and Shia militiamen.

Military commanders have said that the combined force had moved into the town of al-Dour on the southern outskirts of Tikrit.

A senior commander in the main Shia alliance, Moeen al-Kadhimi, has said that progress has been slowed by the extensive use of improvised explosives by IS.

"We're very careful in our planning, especially because the IS strategy is based on planting explosive devices on the roads, houses, everything," he added.

The Iraqi government's offensive is being supported from the air by the US-led coalition, which has launched 26 air strikes on IS positions in Iraq.

The US military has said that the capture of al-Baghdadi meant Iraqi forces were now poised to retake more territory from IS in Anbar province.

Source: BBC News

by Musalia Wycliffe