22 Daesh militants killed in Iraq

By Arif Yusuf

BAGHDAD

Twenty-two Daesh terrorists were killed in and around Mosul Friday in airstrikes by the international coalition fighting the group, and in a car bomb attack, according to the Iraqi defense ministry.

Warplanes launched airstrikes southeast of Mosul’s Al-Hadar district, killing 12 militants and destroying an ammunition depot, the ministry said in a statement.

Separately, at least 10 Daesh members were killed when explosives in a car belonging to the terrorist group detonated in a village located between Makhmur and Qayyara towns southeast of Mosul.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi earlier this week said the strategic Qayyara had been recaptured from Daesh.

Security forces began a military campaign two months ago, aimed at recapturing Al-Shirqat district in Saladin province and Qayyara in Nineveh province, from the terrorist group.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since when Daesh captured Mosul and overran large swathes of territory in the northern and western parts of the country.

According to the UN, more than 3.4 million people are now displaced in Iraq -- more than half of them children -- while more than 10 million are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.