An Iraqi policeman inspects the aftermath scene of a mortar and bombing attack on the Sayyid Mohammed shrine in the Balad area, located 70 kilometres (around 45 miles) north of Baghdad, on July 8, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP)
TIKRIT, Iraq, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Tuesday severed the supply routes to two towns held by the Islamic States (IS) militants in northern Iraq, after seizing villages to the south of the IS-held city of Mosul, a security source told Xinhua.
Security forces and allied paramilitary units, known as Hashd al-Shaabi, recaptured the villages of Ich'hala and Imam in the south of the IS-held town of Qayyara, some 50 km south of Mosul, the source said on condition of anonymity.
By retaking control of the two villages on the west side of Tigris River, the troops have cut off the IS supply routes from Mosul to IS-held Shirqat, a town about 30 km south of Mosul, and Hawijah, a town located some 45 km southeast of Shirqat, the source said.
The security forces plan to seize other villages on the east bank of the river to encircle the militants, the source added.
The U.S.-backed security forces recaptured a strategic airbase near the town of Qayyara on Saturday.
Once known as Saddam Airbase, it is one of the largest airbases in the Middle East and was widely used by the former Iraqi air forces during the Iraqi-Iranian war in 1980s.
An Iraqi policeman inspects the aftermath scene of a mortar and bombing attack on the Sayyid Mohammed shrine in the Balad area, located 70 kilometres (around 45 miles) north of Baghdad, on July 8, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP)
During his meetings with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad on Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said 560 more U.S. troops will be deployed in Iraq to help establish the airbase as a staging hub for the long-awaited battle to recapture Mosul from the IS extremist militants.
According to the Pentagon chief, most of the new U.S. troops will be devoted to the build-up of the Qayyara airbase, including engineers, logistics personnel and other forces, to help Iraqi security forces encircle and eventually retake Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad.
Hundreds of U.S. marines are already deployed in Iraq as trainers and advisers to help the country win the battle against the IS extremists in Iraq's western province of Anbar as well as in northern regions.
Iraq's security situation has drastically deteriorated since June 2014, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and IS militants.
The IS took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized territories in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.
A U.S.-led international coalition has been conducting air raids against the IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.
Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S. that invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003.
