Policeman survives IED blast in western Anbar: security source
An improvised explosive device (IED)
“The IED placed under a car belonging to a police captain at Anbar police exploded this morning at the region of Hasiba, east of Ramadi, leaving only material damages,” the source told Alsumaria News.
Islamic State militants, who took large areas of Iraq in 2014 to establish a so-called “Islamic Caliphate” have stepped up attacks in the past few months outside Mosul, the group’s largest bastion in Iraq where a three-month-old security campaign has driven the group out of a half of the city.
Four army personnel were killed on Friday when Islamic State militants attacked their patrol on a road between Ramadi and Rutba.
The Iraqi army command in Anbar declared on the 5th of January the start of operations to retake western Anbar regions, close to the borders with Syria, from militants. The operations lasted for a few days, recapturing a few villages, before halting again. Observes see confusion regarding readiness to launch operations in the province, pointing out to the fact that the start of the security offensive was not officially declared by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as was the case with Mosul, where government forces have entered a third month of battles with the group.
Security sources said a week earlier that the government had decided to halt battles in Anbar until the end of operations in Mosul. The replacement of the army’s operations commander in Anbar, Ismail al-Mahallawi, cast more doubts on the reason behind the halt.