Islamic State forces 180,000 to flee in Iraq

A Kurdish refugee boy from the Syrian town of Kobani looks out from a small room where he lives with his family in the southeastern town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province, October 13, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fighting in Iraq's western Anbar province has forced up to 180,000 people to flee since the city of Hit fell to Islamic State earlier this month, the United Nations said on Monday.

Islamic State fighters extended that advance by overrunning a military base that the Iraqi army had abandoned 8 km (5 miles) west of Hit earlier on Monday, according to an army officer and members of a government-backed Sunni militia.