Tasnim – Iraqi forces repelled two major offensives by Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists in the holy city of Samarra, north-central Salahuddin Province, inflicting major losses on them.





On Sunday, the Takfiri terrorists attempted to sneak into eastern edges of Samarra from two different directions but were caught unawares by the Iraqi troops’ counterattack, the Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen TV channel reported.

A large group of the militants were killed and injured during the clashes.

In a separate development, the Iraqi security forces opened fire at four suicide bombers in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala before they could find an opportunity to explode themselves.

Iraq has been facing the growing threat of terrorism, mainly posed by the ISIL terrorist group.

The ISIL militants made advances in northern and western Iraq over summer 2014, after capturing swaths of northern Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, blunted the edge of the ISIL offensive and in recent months led to liberation of much of the territories occupied by Daesh.