As US airstrikes back Iraqi troops’ advance on Hit, 85 miles from Baghdad, plans are made to evacuate thousands of families

Tens of thousands of trapped Iraqi civilians have stalled the government’s advance in the battle against the Islamic State militant group in the western Anbar province, a spokesman for Iraq’s elite counterterrorism forces said Friday.

The civilians are trapped between the Iraqi forces’ lines and the Isis extremists hunkered down in the centre of the town of Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, the official said.

Meanwhile, Isis claimed responsibility for two suicide car bombings that killed 11 security forces personnel late on Thursday night south-east of the city of Mosul, which is controlled by Isis.

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Early on Thursday morning, Iraqi forces re-launched an offensive on Hit under cover of heavy US-led coalition airstrikes, said the counterterrorism chief, Sabah al-Numan. Over the past week the coalition launched 17 airstrikes in and around Hit, according to Pentagon statements.

The town lies along an Isis supply line linking the extremist group’s fighters in Iraq and those in neighbouring Syria. Iraqi commanders have said that retaking the town would be key to building on their momentum, after retaking the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi earlier this year and linking up government forces to the west and the north of Baghdad in preparation for an eventual push on Mosul.

The counter-terrorism forces leading the Hit operation, reached within two miles of central Hit on Thursday before being forced to stop, al-Numan said.

“The commanders are making a plan to evacuate these families,” al-Numan said, as Iraqi forces dropped leaflets over Hit, telling civilians which roads they can take to flee safely.

Iraqi forces encountered similar problems in the battle for Ramadi earlier this year – as government forces advanced across downtown Ramadi, Isis pulled back and took civilians captive, significantly slowing the advance of ground troops. While downtown Ramadi was declared under government control last December, it wasn’t until two months later that Iraqi and coalition forces said the rest of the city was fully liberated.

One of the Isis car bombings south-east of Mosul killed eight Iraqi Kurdish fighters, while the other targeted an Iraqi police station in the same area, killing three policemen.

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Iraq’s military is conducting what the US-led coalition describes as “shaping” operations ahead of a planned Mosul offensive. Iraqi forces have pushed Isis out of a number of villages around Makhmour base where a US marine was killed during an Isis attack last month.

On Wednesday, Iraqi forces celebrated as they took the Anbar provincial town of Kubaisa from Isis.

Makhmour base and other frontline Iraqi positions south-west of Mosul have increasingly come under attack from Isis in recent weeks as Iraqi troops built up in the area.

After storming across Iraq in the summer of 2014 and overrunning Mosul, Isis still controls large swaths of territory in the country’s north and west.