Federal Police free 14 prisoners held in Islamic State prison in Salahuddin
Islamic State prison in Qairawan, west of Mosul
In a statement issued on Saturday, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, chief og Federal Police, said “troops seized an IS prison with 14 prisoners inside, during operations to liberate south of the eastern side of Shirqat, north of Salahuddin.”
Earlier on the day, Jawdat said troops became in control over 90 percent of the holdout.
The group reportedly started collective executions of members who attempted to flee battles in Salahuddin to Hawija, the group’s stronghold in neighboring Kirkuk where parallel security operations are running to retake militants-held regions.
225 militants had been killed since the launch of operations in Shirqat, according to Jawdat.
On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and the Joint Operations Command announced launch of first phase of operations to liberate Hawija and western Shirqat. Federal Police, Rapid Response and the pro-government Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are carrying out the attack, according to the command.
The Iraqi army said in September its forces recaptured the eastern coast of Shirqat, located south of Mosul, on the west bank of the Tigris river, after being surrounded for months by Iraqi troops and the pro-government Shi’ite militias. The western coast of Shirqat, is still under the IS control.