Iraqi security forces have attacked an underground prison run by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the western province of Anbar, freeing as many as 1,500 prisoners.
Malallah al-Obeidi, the head of the al-Baghdadi city council, said Saturday that the large prison was located in the Hit district, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of the provincial capital Ramadi, where civilians and Iraqi security members were incarcerated, Iraq's al-Sumaria news reported.
All the freed inmates were taken to a safe place outside the district, the official further said.
In the past few days, government forces managed to liberate several regions in the district and are now pushing towards the town of Hit, under Daesh control since October 2014.
The operation to liberate Hit, a Euphrates Valley town, started earlier this week and is part of a wider push that includescapture of embattled Mosul,which has served as the de-facto capital of the terrorist group in Iraq.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Members of Iraqi government forces celebrate on a tank with a seized Daesh flag retaking an area from terrorists on April 2, 2016, in the village of al-Mamoura, near Hit.[/caption]
Daeshhas sufferedmajor blows from Iraqi forces over the past months and is increasingly losing areas under its control. The terror group recently moved its key commandcenters to hospitals and health centers in Iraqs northern city of Hawijah in Kirkuk province tousecivilians as human shields against government airstrikes.
Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since the Takfiris launched an offensive in June 2014, and took control of portions of the Iraqi territory.
Only in the month of March, 1,119 Iraqi people, including 575 civilians, lost their lives and 1,561 others sustained injuries due to armed conflicts, acts of terror and violence,the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) announced on Friday.