Fierce clashes rage in Iraq as army fighting to grab lost lands from IS

Iraqi security forces on Saturday continued clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militants in north and west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, security sources said.

In Salahudin province, fierce clashes co ntinued between the IS militants and the security forces backed by militias, known as Hashd Shaabi, or popular mobilization, in the northern part of the town of Baiji, as the extremist militants are still fighting in some pockets of resistance, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In one of the battles in the town, the troops and allied militias clashed in the afternoon with IS militants in Naft neighborhood in northern Baiji, leaving 18 IS militants killed, the source said without giving further details.

The security forces and allied militias, covered by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft, cleared on Tuesday most of the town after days of heavy clashes with the extremist militants.

The battles in Baiji came as heavy clashes continue in the nearby Iraq's largest oil refinery as the security forces are fighting to drive IS militants out of the refinery, which the militants are seizing large parts of it.

Meanwhile, the source said the international aircraft carried out an air strike on IS base at the fertilizer factory, some 15 km north of Baiji, destroying several IS vehicles and leaving unknown number of IS militants killed.

Since March 2, security forces and thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias have been involved in Iraq's biggest offensive in order to recapture from IS militants the northern part of Salahudin province.

In Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, Kurdish security forces, known as Peshmerga, repelled an attack by the IS militants on a Kurdish military base near the town of Ba'shiqa, some 30 km northeast of the IS-held provincial capital city of Mosul, a Kurdish security source anonymously told Xinhua.

The attack occurred in the morning when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car at the entrance of the base, while dozens of IS militant attacked the base from another direction, but the troops fought them back and killed at least seven extremist militants, including the suicide bomber, the source said.

In addition, Iraqi aircraft dropped leaflets over the militant-seized city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, telling the residents that a major operation to free the city from the extremist militants would be carried out soon, a provincial security source said.

"The security forces are at the doors of Mosul and the day of salvation (from IS) is close," the leaflets said, telling the residents that a new radio station, Mosul FM, would start broadcasting soon and calling on the people to carry a radio at all time to receive instruction about their safety and how to help the security forces in upcoming battle of Mosul, according to the source.

Elsewhere, the international warplanes at dawn bombarded a bridge, known as Shmeitt, on a river near the IS-held town of Hawijah, some 100 km west of Kirkuk, a security source from Kirkuk told Xinhua.

The source said the bridge is vital for the IS group and the attack was part of efforts to cut the supply routes of the extremist group.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 2014, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and hundreds of militants from the IS.

The militants took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces. Endit