Iraqi troops retake 2 towns in eastern province

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Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militiamen and Kurdish security forces have recaptured two eastern towns from Islamic State militants after fierce clashes, officials said Monday.

Police officials in the Diyala province said that Iraqi forces entered the towns of Saadiya and Jalula late Sunday after heavy fighting with the Sunni extremist group, which controls much of northwestern Iraq and northeastern Syria.

The fighting is still continuing, with some pockets of resistance outside the two towns, the police officials said, adding that teams are working to defuse roadside bombs. Some families that fled the area have already started to return, they said.

The communally mixed Diyala province saw heavy fighting between Sunni and Shiite 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.

Also on Monday, a car bomb near a crowded Baghdad marketplace in the mainly Sunni Shaab neighborhood killed 9 people and wounded 20, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility. Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to brief the media.

Baghdad has endured near-daily bombings for months, most of which have targeted Shiite areas and been blamed on the Islamic State group and other Sunni extremists.

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of U.S. Central Command, on Monday according to a statement issued by the premier's office.

Al-Abadi said Iraqi security forces are pressing ahead with efforts to "liberate" all the territories seized by the IS group. "We are working hard to bring life back to the cities that have been liberated and we are working on post-liberation plans," he said.

The U.S. Central Command meanwhile said coalition aircraft have carried out 15 airstrikes in Iraq and nine in Syria over the past four days targeting the Islamic State group.