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22 militants killed as Iraqi forces extend control of IS-held town in Anbar

Xinhua, April 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

A total of 22 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Sunday in airstrike on IS positions and clashes with security forces who gain more ground in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

Security forces and allied paramilitary Sunni tribal fighters fought fierce clashes with IS militants and made a new progress in their offensive to drive out IS militants from the town of Heet, 160 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

During the day, the troops retook control of Sikak and Askari districts in eastern Heet and managed to recapture a police station and raised the Iraqi flag on its building, the source said.

The battles resulted in the killing of 16 IS militants and five security members, along with destroying two army vehicles, the source added.

At the end of the day, the clashes were underway as the troops were fighting to gain more ground while heading toward the central part of the town.

But the troops have been advancing slowly in order to give opportunity to thousands of civilians trapped between the troops' lines and the IS militants in downtown Heet to flee their homes, the source said.

Meanwhile, teams of explosive experts are defusing dozens of roadside bombs and booby-trapped vehicles and buildings planted earlier by IS militants on the roads leading to central the town, the source added.

Also in the province, U.S.-led coalition warplanes bombarded an IS position in Zagharit area in north of the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, destroying an IS vehicle carrying ammunition and leaving six IS militants killed, the source said.

The troops have recovered Ramadi, the provincial capital of the country's largest province of Anbar last December.

Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni paramilitary units have been battling IS militants to repossess control of large territories in northern and western Iraq, seized by the IS since June 2014. Endit