Iraqi troops kill two Islamic State suicide bombers in Anbar
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) – Iraqi troops killed on Saturday two Islamic State suicide bombers following fierce clashes in the western province of Anbar.
“Backed by Iraqi warplanes, troops of the Anbar Operations Command stormed 18 hotbeds of the Islamic State terrorist group along the international highway in Anbar province,” Almaalomah news website quoted the Security Media Cell as saying in a press release.
“The troops arrested two IS suicide bombers following fierce clashes,” the statement read, adding that six armored vehicles and two explosive charges were found inside the hotbeds.
In addition, two more IS suicide bombers were arrested, the statement added.
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.