Iraqi Army Attacks Terrorist Camp

(no audio) Iraq said on Saturday (July 4) that its army aviation force have destroyed a camp south of the capital Baghdad used by the militants of the Islamic State to carry out attacks against the holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala and the capital Baghdad. A press release issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said that army aviation command had conducted a “daring and surprised airdrop at a camp of terrorists west of al-Razzaza area, which was used by terrorists as launching pad for their operations against the province of Kerbala and Baghdad.” Razzaza is 120 km (75 miles) south of Baghdad, 15 km (nine miles) west of Kerbala. The release said that the camp was fully destroyed and equipment and devices used by the “terrorists” in their operations were seized. A video released by the Ministry of Defense showed plumes of thick black smoke rising from the targeted site, as Iraqi troops carried out the operation in a desert area both on foot and in the air. Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi’ite militias are struggling to contain the hardline Sunni Islamist militants in Anbar province, west of Baghdad. To the north, they are battling for full control of the town of Baiji and its nearby refinery.