Iraqi forces capture area on Syria border from IS hours after launching offensive

An Iraqi military statement confirmed Akashat, a desert region located south of the Euphrates river, was captured in an offensive which had been announced earlier in the day.

The attack on Akashat is meant to pave the way for the recapture of urban centres in the Euphrates valley, including the border post of al-Qaim, it said.

Pro-government paramilitary forces known as Popular Mobilisation or al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Arabic, and Sunni tribal fighters known as Tribal Mobilisation took part in the offensive, the statement added.

The area around Akashat in Iraq's Anbar province is a pivotal logistics point, with highways linking to Syria and Jordan. 

The surrounding territories are rich in gas and also where the border post al-Qaim is based.

Iraqi forces captured the whole of the IS-held city of Mosul in July, which was seized by jihadis in their 2014 campaign in Syria and Iraq.

IS captured much of northern and western Iraq during the offensive, when the militant leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself "caliph" in a Mosul mosque.

Since then, the group has lost much of its territories in Iraq and Syria.