IS militants execute 19 policemen in western Iraq

The extremist Islamic State (IS) militants on Sunday executed 19 local policemen in Iraq's western province of Anbar, while seven IS militants were killed in clashes in the northern central province of Salahudin, security source said.

The policemen were executed one day after the militants who seized the al-Wafaa area, just southwest of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Separately, the IS militants surrounded a force from Iraqi police and government-allied militiamen in an area located some 35 km west of Ramadi, and fierce clashes were underway, the source said.

Sporadic clashes continued in the day after the IS militants took control of several villages in the area between the town of al-Baghdadi and the nearby town of Heet, some 160 km west of Baghdad, the source added.

In Salahudin province, heavy clashes erupted between the security forces backed by Shiite militias and the IS militants near the town of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, leaving at least seven IS militants killed, the source said without giving further details about the casualties among the troops and the militiamen.

Also in the province, clashes broke out near the oil refinery town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, the source said with elaboration.

Meanwhile, three IS militants were killed while they were preparing a booby-trapped house in al-Zuwiyah village, some 30 km east of Baiji, the source said.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between the Iraqi security forces and the IS group. Enditem