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| Iraq |
| Iraq army retakes Saddam's birthplace |
| 2014-07-04 |
| [REUTERS] The Iraqi army retook Saddam Hussein's home village overnight, a symbolic victory in its struggle to seize back swathes of the country from Sunni Death Eaters. They're not talking about Tikrit, just a village on the way there. Backed by helicopter gunships and helped by Shi'ite Moslem volunteers, the army recaptured the village of Awja in an hour-long battle on Thursday night, according to state media, police and local inhabitants. Awja lies 8 km (5 miles) south of Tikrit, a city that remains in rebel hands since Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL), launched a lightning assault across northern Iraq last month. The offensive to retake Tikrit began on June 28, but the army has still failed to retake the city which fell after the police and army imploded last month in the face of the myrmidon onslaught that also captured djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... and other major Sunni areas. The military front man of embattled Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Awja had been "totally cleansed" and 30 holy warriors killed, according to state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? . A police source told Rooters three turbans had been killed. The birthplace of Saddam, Awja benefited hugely from the largesse of the Sunni dictator before his ousting by the U.S. invasion of 2003 and locals remained fiercely loyal to the man who would select his relatives from the area for top posts. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 That will not sit well with the ISIL's Baathist allies. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-07-04 14:09 |
| #1 Hurray! They captured a village. /sarc off |
| Posted by: borgboy 2014-07-04 13:52 |