Thu Aug 25, 2016 20:32:45
The Iraqi army has dislodged Islamic State (ISIS / Daesh / ISIL) from the Qayyara oil producing region located south of their de facto capital Mosul, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Thursday (August 25).
“The liberation of Qayyara is an important step toward achieving the larger goal of restoring Mosul province,” according to tweets from Abadi’s media office.
“Iraqi troops from the Counter Terrorism unit have gained complete control of Qayyara. We still have a small area in the northern part of the city that our heroes are trying to liberate so that we have full control of the whole city, God Willing,” said General Najim al-Jibouri, commander of Nineveh province operations.
“Qayyara is a strategic area of major significance. It’s important for us and it was also important for Daesh (Islamic State) considering it was a main oil supply. They used to steal the equivalent of one hundred barrels of oil on a daily basis,” he added.
Iraqi forces last month captured the Qayyara airbase which it plans to use as a hub to support forces advancing on Mosul, 60 km (38 miles) further north.
Abadi hopes to defeat the group this year by capturing Mosul, the largest city under its control in both Iraq and Syria.
The Qayyara region produces heavy sour crude and has a small refinery to process some of the oil.
S/SH 11
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