(VOVworld) – Islamic State militants reached Amriyat al-Fallujah, the last town under the control of the Iraqi government in western Anbar province, said the town sheriff Aref al-Janabi.

An Islamic State Fighter holds the group's flag. (Photo: Reuters)

He said that IS forces came from 3 directions and were preparing to besiege the town. If the town is taken by IS, Baghdad and the Shiite holy city of Karbala will be in danger as Amriyat al-Fallujaj is 35 kilometres west from Baghdad and lies between the IS bastion of Fallujah and the contested area of Jurf al-Sakhr, commanding access to the holy Shiite city of Karbala. Anbar province has been fiercely attacked by IS militants and the province’s leaders said that it would fall into IS hands in the next few days unless US ground troops intervened. Sheikh Ali Hatem al-Suleima, a Sunni tribal patriarch, has called on Arab countries to join anti-IS coalition in Iraq, but Iraqi Shiite Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has turned down every proposal for foreign intervention.