IS territory shrinks in Iraq and Syria

Islamic State-controlled territory has been reduced by about 30 percent a year ago, says a spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition.

The death toll was also confirmed by mayor of Haditha, Mabrouk Hamid, who said, “We have more than 20 martyrs and more than 50 wounded”.

Earlier, a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry said evidence suggested the Islamic State had used chemical weapons in several attacks against rival groups in Syria.

In a statement posted online, IS said its commando reached a centre where 1,200 cadets were being trained, sparking clashes that lasted four hours.

Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters place Islamic State militants’ bodies in a truck, as they celebrate the repulsion of the Islamic State attack in Haditha, 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016.

After taking the strategic government complex in the centre of the city, elite counter-terrorism forces have been expanding their grip and sweeping each neighbourhood for holdout militants and trapped civilians.

And it’s tempting to conclude from the months-long battle that America’s Iraqi allies have turned the corner after seeming hopelessly overmatched by ISIL forces that drove them out of cities such as Ramadi in the first place. Islamic State had not taken “a single inch of land” since May 2015, when it captured Ramadi, Warren said.

The commander described the offensive as the biggest by the militants so far, launched from three directions.

An Anbar provincial security source told Xinhua that the Iraqi security forces, backed by Iraqi and worldwide aircraft, carried out an offensive during the day on IS militants and managed to recapture Barwana area and al-Sakran village near Haditha, after the extremist militants seized parts of the two areas in a major attack the day before.