Islamic State driven out of key Iraqi town

Iraqi government forces have recaptured the town of Al-Baghdadi from the Islamic State military group, according to the US military.

The western Iraqi town, which was captured by IS, last month lies only 8km away from the Ayn al-Asad air base where hundreds of US troops are training Iraqi soldiers.

In a statement on Friday, the US-led coalition against IS said that security forces and tribal fighters from the Anbar region had managed to clear Al-Baghdadi of IS fighters, retaking both the police station and three Euphrates River bridges.

The US-led coalition, which is conducting air strikes in Iraq and Syria against IS targets, said it had ordered 26 air strikes around the town since February 22.

Although US ground forces were not directly employed in the battle for Al-Baghdadi, the coalition said that they “supported the operation with surveillance assets and advise and assist teams" attached to Iraqi headquarters units.

Iraqi and Kurdish troops, backed by Sunni tribes and Shia armed groups, have started to push back Islamic State forces from a swathe of territory that they won over last year in an attempt to build an Islamist "caliphate".

On February 13, as IS were capturing Al-Baghdadi, suicide bombers attacked Iraqi forces protecting the Ayn al-Asad air base. Although no Americans were hurt in the assault, their relative proximity to the fighting increased fears that US ground troops could find themselves drawn into the conflict.