People in the Iraqi town of Amerli have celebrated their liberation after more than two months of being besieged by Islamic State militants.

Since earlier this year a growing Sunni insurgency has taken territory in the north and the west of the country.

Thousands of Iranian-backed Shi’ite fighters have joined Iraqi government forces forming an unlikely alliance with the US.

Meanwhile images were emerging of showing the corpses of Shi’ite government soldiers captured by Islamic State and subsequently executed.

French, US, Australian and British planes have all dropped humanitarian aid which is now being distributed to the 15,000 inhabitants.

Shi’ite militia and Kurds are still patrolling the outskirts of the town which they liberated, supported by US air strikes.