DIYALA, Iraq
Ground operations by Iraqi army and local militia forces have killed 100 ISIL militants in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province, the army has said.
Some 16 villages have been cleared of militants by Iraqi army and tribal forces, Lieutenant General Abdulemir ez-Zadi, the commander of operations in Diyala, said.
Iraq has suffered escalating ethnic violence, which then became a militant campaign by armed groups linked to ISIL that captured large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces in early June.
Violence instigated by ISIL militants has claimed thousands of lives and caused more than 1.2 million Iraqis to flee their homes.
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