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Iraqi paramilitary take back ancient city of Hatra from Islamic State

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi paramilitary units dislodged Islamic State from Hatra on Wednesday, driving the militants from an ancient city they damaged during their three-year rule, according to an Iraqi military spokesman. The extent of the damage was not disclosed, but Islamic State released a video in 2015 showing their destruction of monuments in Hatra. They were driven out by Popular Mobilisation, a coalition of mostly Iranian-trained groups of Shi'ite volunteers formed in 2014 after Islamic State, a hardline Sunni group, overran a third of Iraq. It operates with the approval of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, in coordination with the regular armed forces. Hatra, a city that flourished in the first century AD, lies south of Mosul, where Islamic State has been fighting against a U.S.-backed offensive since October. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli)