IS militants burn 45 people to death in western Iraq

Local police chief Colonel Qasim al-Obeidi, has said that the identity of these 45 people is as yet unknown, but he believed some were members of the security forces.

IS militants had captured much of the town, near Ain al-Asad air base, last week, with Obeidi saying a compound that housed the families of security personnel and local officials was now under attack.

Obeidi pleaded for help from the government and the international community, but the fighting and poor communications in the area continue to make it difficult to confirm these reports.

Earlier this month, IS published a video showing militants burning alive a Jordanian air force pilot, whose plane crashed in Syria in December.

Islamic State fighters had besieged Al-Baghdadi for months before its fall on Thursday, and it had been one of the few towns to still be controlled by the Iraqi government in the Anbar province, where IS and allied Sunni Arab tribesmen launched an invasion in January 2014.

Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby told reporters on Friday that al-Baghdadi's capture needed to be put in perspective. He said it was the first time in the last couple of months that the jihadist group had taken new ground.

Ain al-Asad air base, where about 320 US Marines are training members of the Iraqi army's 7th Division, is only 8km (5 miles) away. The base was itself attacked by IS militants, using several suicide bombers, on Friday. The militants were eventually repelled by Iraqi troops backed by US-led coalition aircraft.