Updated: Unidentified shelling kill, injure thirteen civilians inside house, west of Anbar
Rocket shelling. File photo.
“Unidentified jet shelled a house of civilians near Okashat region, in the north of Rutba,” the source told AlSumaria News.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said “the shelling left Four people, including two children, were killed, while nine others, including children, were injured.”
Despite being controlled by security troops, occasional attacks as well as unidentified shelling usually occur on some parts and regions in the vicinity of Rutba.
On Saturday, a senior Iraqi officer was quoted as saying that a military operation was launched to drive IS militants out of the western regions in Anbar province.
Iraqi forces and US-led international coalition were slammed due to the fall of hundreds of civilian casualties by air strikes and explosions.
Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them. However, Anbar’s western cities of Annah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it emerged to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate. There has not been an officially-declared military campaign to free those regions, but the province’s military command launched a brief assault early January that managed to recapture some western villages before stopping again.
It is believed that the Iraqi government will not aim at western Anbar before its forces are done with retaking Mosul.