Iraqi Forces Push Daseh from Western Town of Hit

Local Editor

A local commander said the pro-government forces had routed the militants from their stronghold in Hit, which had a pre-war population of nearly 100,000, but fighting was still going on.

"We are still pursuing them. They have abandoned their families and fled," the commander said in a live broadcast. "Within days, God willing, Iraqis will rejoice at the complete liberation of Anbar province", where Hit is located.

The recapture of Hit, strategically located on the Euphrates River near Ain al-Asad air base, would roll back Daesh further west towards the Syrian border.

Baghdad has had success in pushing back the militants in recent months and has pledged to retake the northern city of Mosul later this year.

One of the commanders said the insurgents, who have planted explosives in roads, cars and buildings, had tried to retake a main street but were repelled.

The counter-terrorism forces, which have led the military's offensive in Anbar for months, helped more than 10,000 civilians leave Hit in recent days, the commanders said. State television broadcast images of men, women and children carrying belongings and waving white flags as they walked out of the town.

The extremists have regularly used civilians as human shields, a tactic aimed at slowing the advance of Iraqi forces and complicating air strikes essential to the ground advance.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team