UN says up to 180,000 refugees flee Iraqi town
Up to 180,000 people have been displaced by fighting in and around Hit in western Anbar province since the city fell to Islamic State militants earlier this month, the United Nations said on Monday. Islamic State fighters overran a military base that the Iraqi army had abandoned about eight kilometers west of Hit earlier on Monday, according to an army officer and three members of a government-backed Sunni militia.
The jihadists looted three armored vehicles and at least five tanks and then set the camp ablaze, the officer and Sunni militia fighters said. Islamic State has been on the offensive in the desert province of Anbar, bordering Syria, in recent weeks, taking the town of Hit on Oct 2 and nearby Kubaisa on Oct 4.
