Iraqi forces free gov't compound in Shirqat town, kill 33 IS militants

Iraqi security forces on Thursday retook control of the government compound in Shirqat, a town in the northcentral province of Salahudin, from Islamic State (IS) militants, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

Government troops and allied Sunni paramilitary tribal fighters, covered by U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft, entered the central part of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and seized the local government compound, the main hospital building and police headquarters, the source said on condition of anonymity.

At least 33 IS militants were killed in the operation, the source said without disclosing casualties among government forces and allied fighters.

Sporadic clashes continued in Shirqat as the troops push further into the remaining neighborhoods in the central part of the town, the source said.

The operation to liberate the town was launched on Tuesday with heavy artillery and mortar barrage on IS positions.

The liberation of the town, which is the last one under IS control in Salahudin province, is part of a major offensive to liberate the major IS stronghold in Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh.

Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, is the second largest city in Iraq. It has been under IS control for more than two years since the extremist group seized parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014. Endit