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