More than 1,300 Daesh fighters have been killed in army operations in and around the Hawija district in Iraq's northern Kirkuk province, according to high-ranking Iraqi military sources.
"A total of 7,200 square kilometers of territory has been liberated [in Hawija] while 1,316 militants have been killed," Brigadier-General Yahia Rasul, a spokesman for the Iraqi army's Joint Operations Command, said at a Thursday press conference in Baghdad.
Since operations began on Sept. 21, a U.S.-led coalition has flown 284 combat sorties in support of Iraqi forces deployed in the area, Rasul said at the press conference, which was also attended by coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon.
Dillon, for his part, said that over the same period, coalition aircraft had destroyed numerous Daesh sites and positions, including a number of weapons depots.
The U.S.-led coalition, he went on to assert, would continue to support Iraq's fight against Daesh by providing intelligence and logistical support.
Last Thursday, Iraqi forces announced the recapture of Kirkuk's Hawija district following a two-week army offensive.
