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At this stage of the operation, the Iraqi forces backed by popular forces patrol the liberated districts, defuse landmines and detonate booby-trapped houses, the state-run al-Iraqiya television network reported on Sunday night.
The Iraqi defense ministry in a statement said the stage is aimed at providing the security of the area and targeting explosive-laden cars, adding that up to now, three cars laden with bombs have been detonated in Samarra island.
Commander of Iraq’s Badr Brigade Hadi al-Ameri said the operation has been devised in five parts, adding that the first part started in Baiji district, Haditha, the railway and the main route to the Samarra island.
Iraq has been facing the growing threat of terrorism, mainly posed by the Daesh terrorist group.
Daesh militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer in 2014, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.
However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of Daesh offensive.
Iraqi forces retook the northern city of Baiji in October 2015 and then Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, at the end of last year and have been making advances against the terrorists since.
Tasnim News Agency - world