Elements of the ISIS group have kidnapped 23 civilians after carried out several raids on houses in the village of Asdirat in al-Sharqat district, located 120 km north of Tikrit.

The group’s militants accused the 23 abducted individuals of cooperation with the Iraqi security forces, a security sources told Iraqi news.

“The hostages were reportedly driven to an unknown destination,” the source added.

Residential complex in Baghdadi still under ISIS besieges

The Council of al-Baghdadi announced that the ISIS group is still besieging the residential complex from all directions, indicating that there is no way to go out. It pointed out that the security forces were not able to break the siege on the complex.

A council member Najim Abdullah Mishan said: “People of the residential complex in Baghdadi (western Anbar) are still trapped. There is no way out.”

Mishan stated, “The ISIS group elements are in control of Baghdadi completely,” adding that, “The security forces did not break the siege on the residential complex.”

“The complex residents, with support from the security forces, carry weapons and are relentless in the face of ISIS,” he said, noting that, “The Army was supposed to reinforce the complex and its residents until the siege is lifted instead of waiting until ISIS militants have entered and begun to kill people.”

Meanwhile The Iraqi army continued to make more gains in its fight against the ISIL Takfiri group in the Western town of al-Baghdadi, leaving dozens of terrorists dead, a local official said to FNA.

Sabah Karhut, head of Anbar's local council, said that the army troops intensified their offensive on the ISIL terrorists in the village of Qasr, 90km West of Ramadi, and managed to kill 30 militants.  

Iraqi troops began a major offensive Saturday to dislodge the terrorists from al-Baghdadi, located about 5 kilometers from the strategic Ain al-Asad airbase home of US Marines.