Iraqi security forces free 5 villages from IS north of Baghdad

Iraqi security forces on Wednesday freed five villages from Islamic State (IS) militants, as part of an operation to clear the vast rural area in the northern province of Salahudin, a provincial security source said.

The troops and allied paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units and local tribal fighters advanced in Jazira area, which stretches in the open land in west of Samarra and the provincial capital city of Tirkit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops, which were covered by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft, clashed with IS militants in several areas and managed to free five villages, the source said.

The forces also freed more than 50 families who were prevented to leave their homes by IS militants in order to use them as human shields, while the troops helped evacuate some 200 families from the battlefields to safer areas, the source added.

Meanwhile, international warplanes destroyed a suicide truck bomb before reaching its target at the positions of security forces, the source said.

So far, the clashes resulted in the killing of four soldiers and the wounding of 18 others, while at least 24 IS militants were killed, he said, adding that the troops seized large amounts of weapons and ammunition and many IS vehicles were destroyed.

The large-scale operation was designed to flush out IS militants from the vast rural area that stretches to the desert in north of the IS-held city of Fallujah in the neighboring province of Anbar in western the country.

Iraq is going through a wave of violence since IS took over areas of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014. Endit