Iraqi forces liberate town from Islamic State militants

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3 Iraqi troops give the victory signal in the small town of Mutasim, near Samarra, about an hour and half's drive northwest of Baghdad. The military says it liberated the town from Islamic State fighters, who overran Mutasim December 8... after launching a major attack from two directions. It says several militants were killed and more than 60 bombs that were plants across the city had been diffused. Nearby Samarra holds potent symbolism for Iraqis. It's home to a Shi'ite mosque whose destruction eight years ago plunged the country into sectarian war. The powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had put his militia on alert to battle the Sunni IS militants for control of Samarra. The city's been targeted by U.S. airstrikes as part of the campaign against Islamic State in Iraq and neighboring Syria.