WASHINGTON: Iraqi forces have cleared Islamic State fighters from the town of Al Baghdadi near a key base where US Marines are training Iraqi military troops, recapturing the police station and three bridges over the Euphrates, the US military said yesterday.
Iraqi Security Forces and tribal militia from the Anbar region also pushed the Islamic State fighters from seven villages northwest of Al Baghdadi on the road to Haditha, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.
Al Baghdadi is located about 5 km northeast of Ain Al Asad airbase, where US Marines are training Iraqi military forces to help them confront Islamic State militants who overran part of northwestern Iraq last year.
Islamic State militants seized the bridges around Al Baghdadi in September. Fighting for control of Al Baghdadi stepped up in recent weeks, and a top US commander said two weeks ago that Iraqi forces appeared to be on the verge of driving out the militants.
REUTERS
