Army kills 21 Islamic State members in Anbar desert
Iraqi army in Anbar
Army Colonel Ahmed al-Shemari said troops foiled an IS attack against military sites in al-Nakhib region, southwest of Baghdad on Tuesday, leaving twenty-one IS members killed.
The clashes, which took place near the Iraqi-Saudi borders, lasted for three hours, during which troops confiscated weapons and vehicles, Shemari said.
In related news, a military source from Anbar Operations Command said the army’s eighth division exploded a booby-trapped vehicles and explosives, west of Ramadi.
No casualties were reported, the source told AlSumaria News.
Earlier on the day, pro-government paramilitary forces of “Al-Jazeera Shield”, affiliated with the tribal mobilization forces killed two IS members and seized their ammunition truck west of Ramadi.
Iraqi troops were able to a 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.