Iraqi forces on Thursday pushed the Islamic State group from Qayyarah, a northern town considered strategic for any future offensive against the jihadists’ last stronghold of Mosul. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hailed the victory as a key step in the fight against ISIS but hours later suffered yet another political setback when lawmakers impeached his Defence Minister.
Special forces, backed by US-led coalition air strikes, wrapped up a three-day operation to retake Qayyarah, a town which lies on the banks of the Tigris river.
“We control all parts of the town and managed, in very limited time, to root out Daesh,” lieutenant General Riyadh Jalal Tawfik, who commands Iraq’s ground forces, told an AFP reporter in Qayyarah, using an acronym for ISIS.