CNN | As Islamic militants continue their murderous advance across Iraq,
they have a new target in their sights: the city of Baquba, less than 40
miles north of Baghdad.
Gun battles erupted in
the city, only a 45-minute drive from the capital, on Tuesday as
fighters and Iraqi government forces clashed.
Civilians are fleeing
violence there and elsewhere in Iraq even as the United States bolsters
its manpower in the region while it mulls what action to take.
According to a Baquba
police official and an official in the Baquba governor's office,
militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, have "made a great advance on Baquba" and are pushing very hard to take it, but the city has not fallen.
The Baquba officials told
CNN that ISIS is moving in on the western side of Baquba and that
villages just west of the city, as well as some areas in western Baquba,
are under ISIS control.
Some families, mainly
Shiite, are fleeing that side of the city, the officials said. They are
moving deeper into Baquba or leaving the city altogether to escape the
looming violence.
The ISIS push started late Monday with a large-scale attack on the Al Wahda police station on the western edge of Baquba.
Heavy clashes between
Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants ensued, leaving at least one
Iraqi security force member, nine militants and 44 prisoners dead,
according to the Baquba officials. Iraqi state television reported that
52 prisoners were killed after ISIS militants threw hand grenades into
the local prison.
