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Iraq Army 'Kills Hundreds' In IS Fightback

A senior commander in the Iraqi army has told Sky News they are taking back crucial territory from Islamic State militants.

Special forces on the frontline in the city of al Karmah, in Anbar province, have amassed heavy artillery and deployed hundreds of troops.

IS still controls most of the province, including capital Ramadi, which they took near full control of a week ago.

But the head of Baghdad Operational Command says his forces are making gains, dismissing fears the whole province could fall under IS control.

"We've killed many - more than 250 terrorists in the past few days," Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al Shammari told Sky News from the frontline.

"With the Iraqi air force and military helicopters and coalition airstrikes contributing to our ground forces.

"The coalition strikes provided cover for our troops to push forward

To illustrate their success, a soldier took us to an area recently liberated.

An Iraqi flag marked the spot where the body of what he said was an IS fighter lay. Another decapitated body was about a metre away, covered by a black jacket.

Other soldiers held up an IS flag and bragged about killing Saudi IS fighters, insisting they are winning this battle and gaining momentum.

But scenes at the crossing point out of Anbar tell a different story.

More than 112,000 people have fled the fighting in the past 10 days and are trying to get to safety.

We also saw people crossing back into Anbar carrying all their belongings, not because it is any safer but because they have run out of options.

Those who do not have a sponsor in Baghdad who can vouch for them are turned back.

Hundreds are still stuck at checkpoints and thousands more are in camps inside Anbar.

At a camp around 10km from the crossing, one woman had walked for two days to get there.

She said she could not go to Baghdad because she did not know anyone there and did not have any money.

There is now only one functioning hospital in the province that is still under government control, but even that was hit by mortars two days ago.

It is understaffed and under-equipped, and the doctor tells us even the patients are too afraid to stay here long.

The worry is that things will only get worse because the battle for Anbar is only just getting started.

If IS were a virus then the men of the Awakening Council would be the antibodies. The council is made up of Sunni tribal fighters, who were heavily relied on to get rid of al Qaeda in 2006.

Their commander says Anbar cannot be won and held without his men.

"The Awakening want revenge against al Qaeda and Islamic State; and IS want revenge against the Awakening," said Sheikh Wessam el Herdari.

"Our operations are ongoing but it depends on the government - if they support us, we can continue."

The fight for control of Anbar is likely to take months.

Iraqi forces are at the helm but Shia militias and the Awakening are also fighting: an alliance of convenience against a common enemy that is holding - for now.