Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has overcome military forces to reach the edge of the Iraqi capital.

Security sources said ISIL, which now calls itself Islamic State, has reached the outskirts of Baghdad. They said ISIL units, attacking from three sides, were battling the Iraq Army within 15 kilometers of the Iraqi capital, with a population of seven million.

“The terrorists are using suicide bombers as an advanced force and
attacking military and police units,” a source said.

On July 7, an ISIL suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi’ite neighborhood of northwestern Baghdad. The bomber killed Maj. Gen. Abdullah Al Najim, commander of the Iraq Army’s 6th Division.

“The commander of the 6th Division was killed while inspecting the
conditions of the citizens and see how they are in the area east of the
Qarma in the bombing carried out by terrorist gangs in the region,” Iraqi
Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said.

The sources said the bomber struck a military position 16 kilometers
from downtown Baghdad. The 6th Division was assigned to protect the Iraqi
capital from an ISIL advance from the north.

ISIL also struck a military checkpoint in the Shi’ite district of
Kadhimiya in northern Baghdad. Authorities said four police officers and
three civilians were killed in the suicide attack.

For its part, the Iraqi military has reported success against ISIL
units in the north. The special forces Golden Division said it was advancing
toward Tikrit, which contains a major military base.

“We will liberate the city from ISIL in the near future,” division
commander Maj. Gen. Fadhil Barwari said.

The sources said the army has been aided by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps. They said IRGC was directing ground attacks with support from
Iraqi fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

The military also said it recaptured Baiji in the Saleh Eddin province,
which contains a major oil refinery. The operation was said to have combined
army units with those of Sunni tribes loyal to the Shi’ite-led government of
Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki.

“The Army Air Command, supported by tribes in Azwaiya area of Baiji,
destroyed 15 vehicles as they transported dozens of terrorist elements of as
were heading to an unknown destination,” military spokesman Brig. Gen.
Qassim Atta said. “Our security forces are ready to provide tribesmen with
the help they need.”

  ISIL, ISIL closes in on Baghdad from three sides; Iraqi general killed in attack, Maj. Gen. Abdullah Al Najim, Nouri Al Maliki