Iraqi troops foil IS attack, kill twenty militants, western Anbar
Islamic State fighters on pickup trucks in Anbar, west of Iraq.
“IS militants attacked the Iraqi army and the tribal forces in al-Sakra village, west of Haditha town, western Anbar, using armored and booby-trapped vehicles and weapons” Mabrouk Hamid, mayor of Haditha, told Sputnik.
The army and tribal troops thwarted the attack and inflicted huge losses on the enemy, killing twenty militants, including suicide attackers, and destroying their weapons, Hamid added.
No casualties among civilians and security troops were reported, according to Hamid.
Haditha city is fully controlled by security forces and tribal fighters, however, IS launches attacks there every now and then. The regions in the north of the lake are desert ones with a number of houses that are used by IS militants as hideouts.
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.
Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the international coalition have also regularly pounded IS locations in the province.