BAGHDAD (AP) – Tens of thousands of trapped Iraqi civilians have stalled the government’s advance in the battle against the Islamic State group in the western Anbar province, the spokesman for Iraq’s elite counterterrorism said Friday.
The civilians are trapped between the Iraqi forces’ lines and the IS extremists hunkered down in the center of the town of Hit, 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Baghdad, the official told The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, IS claimed responsibility for two suicide car bombings that killed 11 security forces late Thursday night southeast of the city of Mosul, which is controlled by IS.
Early Thursday morning, Iraqi forces re-launched an offensive on Hit under cover of heavy U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, said the counterterrorism chief, Sabah al-Numan. Over the past week the coalition launched 17 airstrikes in and around Hit, according to Pentagon statements.
The town lies along an IS supply line linking the extremist group’s fighters in Iraq and those in neighboring Syria. Iraqi commanders have said that retaking the town would be key to building on their momentum after retaking the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi earlier this year and linking up government forces to the west and the north of Baghdad in preparation for an eventual push on Mosul.