BAGHDAD
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant recently executed 100 of its militants of questionable allegiance, Iraq's interior minister said Sunday. "The execution of 100 ISIL militants demonstrates that the group is breaking down," Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban said in a statement posted on the official website of the ministry. The militants were killed because their allegiance to the group was questionable, Ghabban said.
The minister also praised the achievements of the Iraqi security forces and volunteers fighting against ISIL, and said that all areas that are controlled by the group would be recaptured.
"The province of Saladin, which is mostly controlled by ISIL, will be recaptured within the next few days," Ghabban said.
This will also help retake Mosul through a larger operation, he added.
Iraq has been gripped by a security vacuum since June 2014, when ISIL stormed the northern province of Mosul and declared what it called a "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria.
The Iraqi army, along with Kurdish Peshmerga forces and armed tribesmen, is backed by a U.S.-led international coalition that has carried out numerous airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
www.aa.com.tr/en
