EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi army retakes Qayyarah from Islamic State

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Iraqi forces announced on Thursday the complete liberation of the town of Qayyarah, southeast of Mosul, from the Islamic State (IS) control.

Najm al-Jibouri, the commander of the Mosul operations command in an interview with Kurdistan24 stated that Qayyarah is now under the control of the Iraqi army and the engineering teams are working to clean the city from explosives devices and booby traps in the city.

The Iraqi forces launched a military operation on Tuesday to liberate the center of Qayyarah, one of the key towns that remain under the control of IS.

The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a statement following the successful Iraqi offensive said that the liberation of Qayyarah shows that the Iraqi forces are on track to retake Mosul.

According to a Kurdistan24 reporter inside Qayyarah, heavy clashes occurred between the Iraqi forces and the IS extremists during the three-day operation to recapture the center of Qayyarah and at least 200 extremists were killed. Most were foreigners.

Kurdistan24 reporter added that the coalition warplanes played a big role in the operation, stating that among the 20 IS car bombs destroyed, 15 of them were hit by airstrikes.  

Kurdish commander in the Iraqi army told Kurdistan24 that many of the IS extremists got killed in the confrontation with the Iraqi forces and the IS members who are fleeing the town will face execution by IS leaders in the village of al-Ud, north of Qayyarah.  

Following the liberation of Qayyarah, Iraqi army’s next offensive will be the IS-held village of al-Ud then which will expel IS extremists from the town of Hamam al-Alil.

In an offensive conducted in July 2016, the Iraqi army freed Qayyarah Air Base located in the west of the town.

Editing by Ava Homa
(Hoshmand Sadiq from Qayyarah contributed to this report)