Iraq forces attack IS east of Ramadi
Baghdad
Iraqi forces retook territory from the Islamic State group east of Ramadi yesterday, commanders said, in their first counterattack since the jihadists' capture of the Anbar provincial capital last week.
In Iraq, a mosaic of anti-IS forces have massed in the Euphrates Valley to ready for an offensive aimed at turning the tide on the rampant jihadists.
Security officials said an operation was launched early yesterday to retake Husaybah, a town seven kilometres (4.5 miles) east of Ramadi in the Euphrates Valley, that IS had seized earlier in the week.
"The Husaybah area is now under full control and the forces are now advancing to liberate neighbouring Jweibah," a police colonel said.
Anbar's most prominent Sunni tribal leader, Sheikh Rafia Abdelkarim al-Fahdawi, deployed his forces, whose knowledge of the terrain is key, alongside fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi, an umbrella for Shiite militia and volunteers.
The police colonel said the Husaybah operation also involved local and federal police, the interior ministry's rapid intervention force as well as the army.
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