RAMADI, Iraq, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi army forces withdrew from a military base at the edge of a militants-seized town of Heet in the country's western province of Anbar, leaving the town and the base in the hands of Islamic State (IS) militants, a provincial security source said.
In a "tactical withdrawal" late Sunday night, government troops pulled out of the training base near Heet, some 160 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and moved to the al-Asad base in Baghdadi area, 40 km northwest of Heet, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The troops also evacuated all their weapons and equipment to al- Asad base, the source said.
On Oct. 2, hundreds of IS militants stormed Heet and seized most of its neighborhoods following fierce clashes with Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni tribesmen.
The security situation has deteriorated drastically in Iraq since June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and hundreds of IS militants, who took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.
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Iraq denies presence of IS militants near Baghdad airport
BAGHDAD, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Defense Ministry on Monday denied the reported presence of Islamic State (IS) militants in Abu Ghraib area near Baghdad international airport, stressing that security is under control.
"The reports about (IS militants) seizing Abu Ghraib area are not true," Lt. Gen. Qasim Atta said. "Life is normal in the town of Abu Ghraib."Full Story
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