23 militants killed in Iraq air raids, as ISIS executes 41 soldiers, civilians

By Karzan Rasoul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Coalition airstrikes targeted Islamic State (ISIS) positions in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi and Beiji late Thursday night, killing 23 ISIS militants, the Iraqi defense ministry said.

The air raids near the Beiji refinery, some 200 kilometers north of Baghdad, killed 21 militants, the ministry said in a statement.

Beiji, the largest Iraqi oil producing refinery with a large power plant, has been under ISIS control since June last year. It has been shut since ISIS launched its Iraqi offensive more than a year ago.

Meanwhile, the Sunni tribal council of Fallujah said Friday the militants had executed 22 Iraqi Army soldiers, along with 19 civilians who were accused of collaboration with the military.

“They were summary executions without any trials and just to spread fear,” said Sheikh Ahmad Jomaili, who represents the tribal council.

The Iraqi Army has announced it will launch a comprehensive offensive to retake the troubled city, which has been a bastion of Sunni insurgency since after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.