131 killed in clashes between IS, Iraqi forces

At least 131 persons, including 74 militants, were killed and 150 others injured in clashes in an Iraq's Kirkuk city, sources reported on Monday.

Kirkuk's governor Najmeddin Karin said in a statement that Iraqi and Kurdish forces had killed 74 members of the Islamic State militant group (IS) in combats between Friday and Sunday, EFE news agency reported.

He said several IS militants had been arrested, including the Iraqi leader who had launched the attacks on Friday.

According to Karin, the city's IS faction was comprised of 100 militants, most of them from Iraq.

A Kirkuk medical source told EFE that, apart from the 74 IS members, another 57 persons were killed in the fighting, most of them members of the security forces.

During the attacks, the IS militants took control of some police stations and placed snipers on several buildings.

After Friday's clashes reinforcements were sent to several cities in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Monday was the eighth day of the offensive to try to recover Mosul from IS.

Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga aim to expel the IS from this city which has languished under jihadist rule since June 2014.

--IANS

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