With the aid of airstrikes from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, south of the capitol of Baghdad, was retaken by Iraqi ground forces, dealing a huge blow to the Islamic State.

In the north, Iraqi Kurds also dealt a blow to ISIS, re-took the town of Zumar in a fierce fight.

The twin retaking of the two towns came after the U.S. coalition carried out 22 airstrikes on Friday and Saturday.

The two victories are a rarity for the Iraqi military as they re-raised the Iraqi flag above government buildings there.

In the aftermath of the win in the town south of Baghdad, soldiers could be seen combing the streets detonating road-side bombs as they went.

In at least one occasion after the bloody fighting, Shite militia men killed three ISIS fighters in the street. The militiamen claimed the captured fighters were Chechen. Said one of the militia at the scene, “Those dogs are Chechens. They don’t deserve to stay alive. We took confessions from them and we don’t need them anymore.”

Further airstrikes were carried out by the coalition on Sunday to the north and west of the capitol according to U.S. military officials.

  battle, iraq, isis, retake, world