BAGHDAD: Iraqi troops backed by Shia militiamen and Kurdish security forces recaptured two eastern towns from Islamic State group militants after fierce clashes, officials said on Monday.

Police in Diyala province said Iraqi forces entered the towns of Saadiya and Jalula late on Sunday after heavy fighting with the extremist group, which controls territory in Iraq and Syria.

The fighting continued on Monday, with some pockets of resistance outside the two towns, police officials said, adding that teams were defusing roadside bombs.

Some families that fled the area have started to return, they said. Diyala saw heavy fighting between militants at the height of Iraq’s sectarian bloodletting in 2006 and 2007. It also has a sizable Kurdish population.

Islamic State militants seized Jalula and Saadiya in August after a stunning blitz across northern and western Iraq.

Meanwhile on Monday, a car bomb near a crowded Baghdad marketplace in the mainly Shaab neighbourhood killed nine people and wounded 20, police said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility. Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures.

Baghdad has endured near-daily bombings for months, most of which have targeted Shis areas and have been blamed on the IS and other extremists.

Monday night, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a security checkpoint at the country’s border crossing with Jordan, killing three soldiers, officials at the border crossing said.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also met with Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of US Central Command, according to a statement issued by the premier’s office.

US Central Command also said coalition aircraft carried out 15 airstrikes in Iraq and nine in Syria over the past four days targeting the Islamic State group.

Published in Dawn, November 25th , 2014