Iraqi army forces backed by fighters from the Popular Mobilization units have engaged ISIL Takfiri militants in the country’s western province of Anbar, killing more than three dozen of them in the process.

A provincial security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 37 ISIL militants were killed as Iraqi forces struck ISIL positions in the district of al-Harariyat as well as the city of Fallujah, located roughly 69 kilometers (43 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad, Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network reported.

The source added that four vehicles used by the militants were also destroyed during the operations.

The development came a day after video footage showed Iraqi security forces and allied volunteer fighters captured hundreds of ISIL militants in Anbar.

The video, aired by the Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news network on Wednesday, showed ISIL militants lined up in a desert area on the outskirts of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, located about 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad.

Al-Mayadeen added that the ISIL Takfiris were rounded up as Iraqi troops and allied forces launched an operation from three directions on the strategic Iraqi city.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iraqi troopers engaged ISIL militants in the al-Tash and al-Humayrah districts of Anbar, and managed to drive back the Takfiris from both areas.

ISIL executes 9 members in north Iraq

Meanwhile, the ISIL terrorist group has executed nine fellow militants in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh on charges of fleeing the battlefield.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) spokesman in the northern city of Mosul, Saeed Mamouzini, said the ISIL members killed the fellow extremists after leading them into a booby-trapped house and then detonating the building.

On April 11, ISIL executed four of its own senior commanders in Iraq’s northern province of Salahuddin on the grounds that they had fled clashes with Iraqi government forces.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the terrorist group’s leader, Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ordered the execution of the top-brass ISIL members by a firing squad on the outskirts of the city of Shirqat, located some 300 kilometers (190 miles) north of Baghdad.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have witnessed gruesome violence ever since the Takfiri militants began their march through Iraqi territory in June 2014. Units of army soldiers and volunteer fighters have joined forces and are seeking to take back militant-held regions in joint operations.

MP/NN/GHN