[caption id="attachment_102507" align="alignright" width="213"] Members of the Iraqi security forces patrol an area near the borders between Karbala Province and Anbar Province, June 16, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed[/caption]

The Iraqi army has launched attacks on the ISIL Takfiri militants in the areas around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing scores of them, Iraq’s defense ministry says.

According to a statement released by the ministry, at least 89 of the militants were killed in the attacks on Monday, Kurdish newspaper Rudaw reported.

“To clear up areas around Baghdad, Iraqi army launched a series of attacks on ISIS (ISIL) positions on Monday in al- Shortan, Hora, al- Qanatir, Ibrahim bin Ali, and Dijla areas,” the defense ministry added in the statement.

The statement further noted that as many as 14 armored vehicles belonging to the Takfiri group were destroyed in the attacks. The Iraqi forces also cleared the area of the mines the terrorists had planted.

In a separate development on the same day, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces targeted the Takfiiri terrorists, liberating several villages south of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

“We advanced 20 kilometers and we keep advancing further,” the Kirkuk police chief, Brigadier Sarhad Qadir  said , adding, “But due to booby traps and roadsides bombs, we move cautiously.”

“The ISIS militants show no resistance and they have left behind many dead,” he added.

On Sunday, Iraqi forces also liberated the town of Qaryat al-Rashad, located roughly 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of Baghdad, and the village of Albu Ajil, located east of the militant-held strategic city of Tikrit, in the northern province of Salahuddin.

The Iraqi army has inflicted heavy losses on the Takfiri group since March 2 when Iraq launched its operation to free the strategic city of Tikrit, located 140 km (86 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

By Press TV