UPDATED: 7 killed in suicide attack on security checkpoint in western Iraq
Military vehicles stand near a booby-trapped vehicle in Baghdad
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Seven security personnel and civilians were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a security checkpoint in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, Iraqi security media reported on Wednesday.
The Iraqi Security Media Center said a suicide bomber drove a booby-trapped vehicle into a joint security checkpoint managed by the Iraqi army and the Popular Mobilization Forces at the southern entrance of al-Qaem, a former Islamic State stronghold on Anbar’s borders with Syria.
The attack, according to the center, left four security personnel and three civilians dead. It added that four other personnel were wounded.
Iraq declared in December 2017 the recapture of all territories held by Islamic State militants since 2014, and assured its borders with Syria became under full control. But the militants have claimed responsibility for several attacks against security and civilians since then.
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), violence and armed conflict left 79 people dead during the month of July.