RAMADI, Iraq, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS) militant group executed 75 tribesmen in western Iraq on Thursday, a day after they executed 30 tribesmen from the same allied Sunni tribe in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.
The Islamic State, an al-Qaida offshoot, captured some 75 tribesmen from the Sunni tribe of Albu Nimer in the militant seized town of Heet, some 160 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and executed them at about 12:30 p.m. (0930 GMT) for collaborating with the security forces against IS militants, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The killed tribesmen were shot in the head in front of dozens of residents who were forced to witness the executions, the source said.
The incident came a day after the IS militants executed some 30 tribesmen from Albu Nimer tribe.
Security forces and their allied Sunni tribesmen have been battling the extremist Sunni militants in fierce clashes since mid- October. They managed to keep hold of parts of Heet, preventing it from falling into the hands of IS militants who have taken control of around 80 percent of the town.
However, the government forces held their last positions in the town for only ten days due to the lack of reinforcement troops and an ammunition shortage.
More than 1,000 heavily-armed tribesmen and some troops left the town in around 500 vehicles to take refuge in the nearby town of Barwana, which is still under the control of the Iraqi forces. Some government-allied tribesmen ceased fighting and returned to the town, while others apparently were captured by IS militants.
The IS group has seized around 80 percent of Iraq's largest province of Anbar and is trying to advance toward Baghdad, but several counter attacks by the security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them away from areas west of the capital, which contains a large Shiite population and is heavily fortified by security forces and Shiite militias.
Since December last year, insurgent attacks continue in the Sunni Arab heartland in west of Baghdad that stretches through Anbar province, which has been the scene of fierce clashes that flared up after Iraqi police dismantled an anti-government protest site outside the city of Ramadi.
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