BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces on Tuesday completed the recapture of the town of Dhuluiyah, parts of which had been held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadist group for months, commanders said.

“Forces from the army and the police and (militiamen) and tribal fighters succeeded today in regaining control of Dhuluiyah,” an army major general told AFP.

A Shiite militia commander was killed on Monday by a sniper’s bullet during fighting with ISIS militants in Duluiyah, said another senior militia commander.

Retired Brigadier General Abbas Hassan Jabr had joined the Badr Brigades, a powerful Shiite militia, after the ISIS group captured vast swaths of northern and western Iraq over the summer, said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity because his militia had not authorised him to speak to the press.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi issued a statement hailing Jabr as “one of Iraq’s heroes” and vowing that his death would increase “our determination to liberate all Iraq.”

The United States and its allies conducted 15 air strikes against ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq on Tuesday, hitting several units of fighters and buildings, the US military said.

In a statement from the US-led Combined Joint Task Force, officials said seven strikes hit in Syria and eight in Iraq.

The ISIS on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a funeral tent north of Baghdad the day before that killed 16 people and wounded 34 others.

The claim was made in a statement posted on a Twitter account frequently used by the extremist group.

It did not mention the nationality of the attacker.

Monday’s attack targeted the funeral of the father of two members of pro-government Sunni militias. The bomber blew himself up inside a funeral tent in an agricultural area outside the mainly Sunni town of Taji, about 22 kilometers (12 miles) north of Baghdad, a police officer said.

The ISIS frequently targets Iraq’s Shiite majority as well as Sunnis allied with the Shiite-led government.

Agencies