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| Iraq |
| Iraqi troops, militias repel Daesh attacks in Anbar province |
| 2015-06-07 |
| Baghdad -- Government forces and Shia militiamen repelled two Daesh attacks in Anbar province on Saturday, officials said. In one attack, they used anti-tank missiles to stop four would-be suicide car bombers. Police and military officials said Daesh fighters attacked the government-held town of Husseiba with heavy mortar fire early on Saturday. They say the attackers retreated after an hours-long battle, leaving behind three destroyed vehicles and five dead fighters. At least 10 troops and militiamen were wounded in the clash. Iraqi forces took Husseiba, near the militant-held provincial capital of Ramadi, from the Daesh group last month. The officials said that elsewhere in Anbar province, Iraqi troops using Russian anti-tank Kornet missiles destroyed four incoming suicide car bombs during an attack in the Tharthar area. Iraqi forces, backed by Shia militias, have been struggling to recapture areas lost to the militant group in the country’s west and north. Last month the militant group scored a stunning victory, overrunning Ramadi and capturing large amounts of ammunition and armoured vehicles from fleeing government troops. In the aftermath of the Ramadi defeat, Iraqi officials have stepped up calls for more weapons and more direct support from the US and the international community. During an international conference in Paris this week on the fight against the Daesh group, a senior US official pledged to make it easier to get weapons, including US anti-tank rockets, to the Iraqi soldiers that need them. |
| Posted by:Steve White |