ADVANCING Islamic State (IS) militants have been halted in a town west of Baghdad as the US-led coalition continue to carry out airstrikes over Syria and Iraq.
The air strikes followed violent clashes yesterday between Iraqi ground forces and IS militants, who have been making gains towards the capital.
The extremist group was stopped at Amariya al-Falluja, which was last night said to be calm, however a stand-off was continuing on the main road to IS-controlled Falluja in the north.
US aircraft also attacked other IS positions in Anbar province overnight on Sunday, while there were also strikes on IS-controlled towns and villages in northern and eastern Syria.
One raid on a grain silo in Manbij, in Aleppo province, left several civilians dead, the Syrian Observatory's director Rami Abdul Rahman claimed.
Mr Rahman said: "They killed only civilians there, workers at the site. There was no IS inside."
Syria's largest gas plant, Conoco, was also reportedly hit but the facility was not thought to be damaged.
Meanwhile, Turkish tanks have taken up position near the Syrian border town of Kobane after shells hit Turkish territory in clashes between IS and Kurdish fighters.
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