AL ANBAR, Iraq
The militants led by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have taken control of three neighborhoods of Haditha district in Al Anbar province of Iraq, local tribesmen told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.
The militants seized the neighborhoods of Hasafa, Maadeed and Duwaye facing virtually no resistance as no Iraqi troops allegedly have control in the said regions.
The Iraqi army has been launching offensives against the militants for three days in a bid to regain the control of districts and regions seized by the militant group.
ISIL militants, backed by tribal fighters, seized Iraq's second-largest city Mosul on June 10, instigating an insurgency that has gripped a significant part of the country's north since then.
Meanwhile, nearly 20 Turkmen fighters were reported dead in a gun battle between the ISIL militants and the Turkmen in northern Rashidiya district of Mosul province.
The militants kidnapped 50 Turkmen from villages of al-Qubba and Sherihan where mainly Turkmen and Shias live and the fierce clashes displaced hundreds of families.
Iraq has seen a marked increase in sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims in recent months, which the Iraqi government blames on ISIL.
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