Iraqi army kills dozens of IS militants, destroy weapons in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Dozens of Islamic State militants were killed, headquarters were destroyed in airstrike targeting western Anbar.

In a statement on Saturday, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said,”army jets launched airstrikes that destroyed four weapon stashes and killed dozens of militants in Qaim town, western Anbar.

In related news, a military source from Anbar Operations Command said army troops destroyed a fuel tank and two trucks loaded with gas bottles that were going to be smuggled into the province.

Army troops, according to the source, destroyed suicide belts and explosives in the desert, south of the 160 KM region,in west of Ramadi.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source told AlSumaria News that troops “exploded two trucks loaded with gas bottles ahead of being smuggled to the 160 KM region.”

“The U.S.-led coalition jets destroyed a fuel tank in the desert in western Anbar,” the source said.

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.