“We have full control over Tikrit, capital of Salahuddin Province, and have cleared up Awja along with its surrounding parts (of militants),” Major General Fazil Berwari told reporters on Thursday evening.
The commander noted that a large number of militants with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group have been killed in the battle to retake Tikrit, Iraq's al-Nakheel news agency reported.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Iraq's counterterrorism service said on Friday that Iraqi forces have repelled an ISIL attack on the Baiji oil refinery, north of Tikrit.
Alsumaria news channel cited Sabah Al-Nouman as saying that counterterrorism forces, along with division from the 9th Corps, in an operation coordinated by the Air Force, foiled a militant attack on the refinery on Friday morning.
“30 ISIL members were killed in the operation and a number of bulldozers and two vehicles carrying terrorists were destroyed,” he added.
The Baiji refinery, in northern province of Salahuddin, is a crucial resource because it refines much of the fuel needed for domestic consumption.
Iraq has been witnessing a new wave of violence fueled by Takfiri terrorists. The ISIL militants have been operating in the Iraqi provinces of Nineveh, Diyala, Salahuddin and al-Anbar.
Over the past days, the Iraqi Army has launched massive airstrikes to battle the Takfiri terrorists in northern areas.