Iraqi and Kurdish forces claimed a fightback against the Islamic State, only 24 hours after reports that jihadists were pressing their advance in Anbar Province in western Iraq.
Officials said Iraqi troops and Shia militias took the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 60 km (37 miles) south of Baghdad, on Saturday.
The news countered Friday’s reports of Islamic State attacks on Amiriyat Fallujah, northwest of Jurf al-Sakhar.
“Our forces with the support of the volunteers are in total control over Jurf al-Sakhar now and the terrorists fled to the southwest areas of the town,” a spokesman for the Iraqi security forces said.
Security officials said Islamic State fighters fled to the nearby villages of al-Farisiya and Hay al-Askari and were still attacking with sniper fire and mortars, with the possibility of an overnight counter-offensive.
They said 67 members of the Iraqi security forces and Shia militias as well as 300 Islamic State fighters were killed.
In northern Iraq, Kurdish peshmerga retook the town of Zumar and several nearby villages on Saturday after US-led airstrikes.
A Kurdish intelligence officer in Zumar said peshmerga advanced from five directions in the early morning and triumphed after fierce resistance.
Zumar was one of the first Kurdish-controlled towns overrun in August by the Islamic State. The Kurds briefly retook Zumar in September, but withdrew again after suffering heavy losses.
The Kurdish advance challenges the Islamic State’s hold on the town of Sinjar and renewed pressure on Mount Sinjar, where tens of thousands of members of the Yazidi sect fled in August.
The US Central Command said it had backed the operations with 22 airstrikes on Friday and Saturday, including attacks near Mosul in the north and Fallujah in the west.
The American jets also supported Iraqi forces who are challenging the Islamic State near Baiji in northern Iraq, pressing the jihadists in the city and trying to lift their siege on one of Iraq’s three major oil refineries.
