5 Islamic State militants killed in clashes with tribal fighters in western Iraq
A Shi’ite volunteer wearing a mask, who has joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), looks on during a parade on a street in Kanaan, Diyala province, June 26, 2014.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) – Five Islamic State members were killed Wednesday in clashes with Iraqi tribal fighters in the western province of Anbar, a military commander was quoted as saying.
The clashes, which erupted in Wadi Huraan, west of Anbar, left two of the paramilitary Tribal Mobilization Forces wounded, the commander told Al Ekhbaria TV channel.
The commander gave no further details about the clashes.
Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in November 2017 with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.
IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.