BAGHDAD, Iraq — An Iraqi security official says government forces and Shiite militias have recaptured a town lost to Islamic State militants a day earlier.
Police Col. Aziz al-Shihawi said that troops launched a counter-offensive Saturday against the militants in the town of Husseiba. He says Iraqi allied forces killed several militants before they withdrew from the town, some 7 kilometers (4 miles) east of the Islamic State-held city of Ramadi.
Baghdad says preparations are underway to launch a wide-scale counteroffensive in Anbar province involving Iranian-backed Shiite militias, which have played a key role in defeating the Islamic State group elsewhere in the country.
The presence of the militias could, however, fuel sectarian tensions in the Sunni province, where anger at the Shiite-led government runs deep.
