Army officer killed in bomb blast, western Anbar: Military source

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) An army officer was killed as an IED blast occurred while defusing the bomb in western Anbar, a military source from the province said.

“A bomb planted previously by Islamic State militants exploded on Monday while an officer from the seventh division, Cap. Maani al-Saadoun, was trying to defuse it at the desert south of Hit city,” a source, who preferred anonymity, told AlSumaria News.

The blast, according to the source, lead to the officer’s immediate death.

On Sunday, two policemen were killed, while a third was injured in a blast that took place at at al-Halabsa region, at the western entrance of Fallujah city.

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 towns of Annah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it emerged to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

More than 700 Iraqis were killed and wounded during June as result of violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members’ deaths. Baghdad ranked the second place with 22 deaths and 88 injuries.