Iraqi forces regain IS-captured border crossing with Syria

Iraqi security forces on Wednesday retook control of a border crossing point with the neighboring Syria in Iraq's western province of Anbar, after clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants, a provincial security source said.

"The security forces and allied paramilitary units of Sunni tribes launched an operation in the morning and freed al-Walid crossing point and surrounding desert area near the border with Syria," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops, backed by the U.S.-led coalition aircraft, fought clashes with the extremist militants and forced them to withdraw after leaving nine militants dead and four IS vehicles destroyed, the source said.

Imad al-Dulaimi, mayor of the nearby town of Rutba, some 370 km west of Baghdad, said that the troops also freed a residential district adjacent to the crossing point and raised the Iraqi flag on the government buildings.

The operation near the border with Syria came as part of a major offensive aimed at driving out IS militants from the international roads between Baghdad and neighboring Jordan and Syria.

In addition, the offensive was designed to recapture rural areas in north of Euphrates River after the government troops and allied militias previously reclaimed key cities and towns, including Ramadi and Fallujah.

Iraq has witnessed worsening violence since the IS took control of parts of its northern and western regions in June 2014.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence and the rise of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S. that invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003, under the pretext of seeking to destroy weapons of mass destruction.

The war led to the ouster and execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, but no such weapons have been found. Endit