Local residents of Hawijah have reportedly attacked a gathering of Daesh Takfiri terrorists and killed a number of high-ranking militant commanders as government forces are preparing to retake the town in the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk from the extremists.

An informed source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said locals raided a house in the al-Askari neighborhood of the town, located 45 kilometers west of the provincial capital city of Kirkuk, killing four militant commanders.

The source added that Daesh second-in-command for Hawijah, was among the slain terrorists.

An Iraqi military official said on Friday that government forces, backed by pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units – commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi, were preparing to launch a major military operation aimed at liberating the town of Hawijah from Daesh terrorists anytime soon.

The unnamed official said Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) had formed a new force, dubbed Operation "We Are Coming, Hawijah" to retake the town.

He added that Iraqi army units, members of the Federal Police Force and the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters as well as the Interior Ministry's elite rapid response forces will participate in the battle.

Iraqi airstrikes kill dozens of Daesh terrorists in Diyala

Meanwhile, more than four dozen members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group have been killed in separate operations by the Iraqi Air Force in the country’s eastern province of Diyala.

An F-16 fighter jet is seen on the tarmac at Iraq's Balad airbase in Salahuddin Province, north of the capital, Baghdad, on July 20, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Awwad al-Rubaei, the chairman of the security committee of Abu Sayda village council, told al-Ghad Press news agency that nearly 50 Daesh terrorists had been killed as Iraqi military aircraft launched precision strikes against a number of terrorists’ hideouts in Basateen al-Mekheisa village and the surrounding areas, in addition to Abu Sayda outskirts, over the past two months.