Clashes continue across Iraq, many killed

Fierce clashes continued in Iraq as security forces launched airstrikes against Sunni militants across several provinces in the country, security and medical sources said.

Iraqi aircraft pounded several neighbourhoods and a popular market in the city of Shirqat, 280 km north of Baghdad, destroying five houses and killing 18 people, Xinhua quoted a provincial police source as saying on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, fierce clashes took place in Salahudin, provincial capital of Tikrit, 170 km north of Baghdad, and the security forces managed to retake control of the headquarters of the army's 4th division just south of Tikrit, military spokesman Qassim Atta said in Baghdad.

The troops seized all roads leading to the militant-seized city of Tikrit after they defused 57 bombs planted on the main roads, Atta said.

Also in the northern province of Salahudin, four militants were killed and 16 others were captured by the troops in clashes in the city of Samarra, 120 km north of Baghdad, Atta added.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, sporadic battles between the security forces and Sunni militants, including those who are linked to the Islamic State (IS), an al-Qaida offshoot, continued across the province.

Iraqi military aircraft carried out air strikes against the insurgents posts north of the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km north-east of Baghdad, killing 60 militants, Atta said.

Separately, two civilians were killed and 15 wounded, in a mortar barrage on several neighbourhoods in the city of Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad, a medical source from the city hospital told Xinhua.