"The Iraqi army's helicopter gunships, in coordination with Salahuddin's Operations Command (SOC), carried out effective airstrikes on ISIS terrorist gangs in Tasnei' Askari area in southwest of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving a total of 170 terrorists killed," said a statement released by the Iraqi defense ministry on Sunday. 

During the strikes, some eight terrorist posts armed with heavy machine guns and around 13 vehicles were also destroyed.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, also thwarted an attempt by the terrorists to enter the province, killing a large number of them and destroying their weapons and equipment.

“Troops of the first brigade of al-Hashd al-Shaabi repulsed an attack by the Daesh in western Mosul,” said a military statement. "The enemy tried to sneak into the Iraq-Syrian borders before the fighters of the first brigade faced them, causing heavy losses among them,” it added.