Iraqi Hit Restored Following Weeks of Fighting

Local Editor

Iraqi forces retook the town of Hit from Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the terrorist "ISIS" group] Thursday after weeks of fighting, the military said, the latest in a series of losses for the terrorists.

After securing Anbar's capital of Ramadi, Iraqi forces launched an operation in mid-March aimed at retaking Hit, one of the largest population centers in the province still under Daesh control.

"Units from the Counter-Terrorism Service completely liberated Hit," Iraq's Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

CTS spokesman Sabah al-Noman said the recapture of the town west of Baghdad was completed Thursday. "The town of Hit is cleared of any Daesh gunmen."

The fight for Hit, a small Euphrates River town west of the capital of Baghdad, became pivotal in Iraq's campaign to claw back territory from Daesh in the sprawling province. The town sits along a Daesh supply line that links Iraqi territory controlled by the militant group with its base in Syria.

Before the announcement of the town's recapturing, Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, who leads the counterterrorism troops, said Iraq's counterterrorism forces are increasingly relying on air power in the battle to take full control of the city.

Asadi said his men were facing tough counterattacks because, unlike Ramadi, he believes Hit was a more important stronghold for Daesh. Earlier Thursday, Iraqi forces on the southern edge of Hit moved down the street of residential blocks, calling for coalition air support before advancing just tens of meters at a time.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team