Iraqi security forces fight IS militants, recapture territories in Salahudin province

Iraqi security forces on Thursday recaptured territories seized earlier in the day by Islamic State (IS) militants in Salahudin province, security sources said.

At least 30 IS militants were killed in the fighting, when government troops and allied paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi retook the areas of Tal Gseiba and al-Madad, some 30 km east of the provincial capital city of Tikrit, said Jasim al-Jbara, head of security committee of Salahudin provincial council.

Earlier in the day, a provincial security source told Xinhua that the extremist group carried out a major attack at dawn from their positions in Makhoul mountain range and advanced in several routes to capture a large area from Fat'ha in the northern part of the province to Tal Gseiba and al-Madad, and cut the strategic road between Tikrit and the city of Kirkuk.

Elsewhere, IS militants also attacked the towns of Seiniyah, north of Tikrit, and Mkeishifa, south of the provincial capital, but were pushed back, the security source said on condition of anonymity.

The latest IS advance forced dozens of families to leave their homes and head to the town of Alam, just near Tikrit, which is located some 170 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source added.

The mosques in Alam called on residents to take up their arms and prepare to defend their town and families from possible IS attacks, he said.

Meanwhile, local authorities in the town of Dowr, southeast of Tikrit, imposed a curfew and put its police and tribal fighters on alert for possible IS attacks, the source added.

The Sunni Arab predominated province of Salahudin has been the scene of a major offensive by Iraqi security forces and Hashd Shaabi units, which managed to retake control of key towns of the province from IS militants who seized large part of it in June 2014.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, the security forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters, aided by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft, made significant advance early Thursday in Sajjariyah district in the eastern part of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, capturing a large part of the district, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The troops also captured al-Soura district, adjacent to Sajjariyah after clashes with extremist militants; 16 militants and five security members were killed and six others wounded in the fighting, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, federal police attacked IS checkpoints in Huseiba al-Sharqiyah area, some 10 km east of Ramadi, killing seven IS militants, the source added.

During the past three days, the troops evacuated more than 800 civilians, most of them women and children, from the districts of Soufiyah and Sajjariyah, to government-run camps in Habbaniyah and Ameriyat al-Fallujah, both east of Ramadi, the source said.

IS militants have been using civilians as human shields, preventing them from leaving their homes. Some civlians managed to escape despite the IS threat to execute them, but many others failed.

On Dec. 28, security forces captured downtown Ramadi from IS control, raising the Iraqi flag on the government complex there, but small parts of the city have yet to be fully secured due to a large number of bombs planted by the IS and because the troops wanted to avoid casualties among civilians.

For months the troops have been fighting to retake control of key cities and towns in Anbar, Iraq's largest province, from IS militants who previously seized most of Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad. Endit