ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--Iraqi security forces have taken control of the centre of Qayara city from Islamic State (ISIS) on Tuesday, a local government official confirmed. “The Nineveh operation forces, anti-terror, Special Forces, and armored division 37, part of the 9th squad, are in control of the center of Qayara,” Arkan Sabaawi, a member of the Qayara provincial council, said in a statement to Sumaria News. Iraqi forces launched an offensive to retake the center of Qayara, 65 kilometers south of Mosul, on Tuesday. The joint operation command announced in a statement Tuesday morning that Iraqi forces entered the city from four fronts. A coalition of government forces carried out the operation backed by airstrikes from the Iraqi air force and the international coalition. “The Iraqi forces raised the Iraqi flag over the Qayara council and hospital, and they have finished the liberation of the main market and refinery,” Sabaawi said. “Now the Iraqi forces are working to defuse the improvised explosive devices (IEDs),” he added. The governor of Nineveh, Nawfal Hamadi, confirmed the successful military operation. “Iraqi forces took control of Qayara after hours of an extensive operation to retake it from ISIS,” he told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). “Qayara was liberated with the help of heroes of the security forces, such as anti-terror, golden division, special forces, and tribal forces,” Hamadi said, adding, “These victories will continue until we liberate all of the Nineveh territories.” The joint operation command called on any citizens remaining in Qayara to raise a white flag and not enter the streets while the security forces work to defuse the IEDs. Qayara is one of the big sub-districts in Nineveh province with a population of 80,000. Two days prior to the military offensive the Iraqi defense ministry asked the citizens to leave town immediately. Iraqi forces retook Qayara airbase, located 75 kilometers south of Mosul, last month.
