Iraqi security forces have retaken the northern area of Sulaiman Bek from militants after more than a week of heavy fighting during which parts of it repeatedly changed hands

Iraqi security forces have retaken the northern area of Sulaiman Bek from militants after more than a week of heavy fighting during which parts of it repeatedly changed hands, an official said Saturday.
  
Militants initially seized parts of it on February 13, setting off a cycle of clashes in the area which includes a town and several villages. Dozens of people -- security personnel and civilians -- were martyred in the fighting. Also militants were killed.
  
Sulaiman Bek "has now been completely liberated, and there are no longer any gunmen, just police and soldiers", local official Talib al-Bayati told AFP.
  
The army was reinforcing the area with watchtowers and sand barriers, Bayati said, adding that security forces were also preventing residents who had fled the fighting from returning to their homes.
  
Army Staff Lieutenant General Abdulamir al-Zaidi had said that security forces held Sulaiman Bek as of Thursday, but Bayati said it was the next day before they were fully in control.

Sulaiman Bek has been hit by numerous attacks over the past year, and was briefly seized by militants in late April. In July, some 150 militants launched an attack with mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, and also executed 14 Shiite truck drivers on a nearby highway, AFP said.