Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Ten Islamic State militants were killed in an airstrike in western Anbar, Jazeera Operations Command announced.
“The U.S.-led coalition shelled IS rest houses and two booby-trapped vehicles in the towns of Anah and Rawa,” Maj.Gen. Qassim al-Mohammadi, commander of the Jazeera Operations, told AlSumaria News on Wednesday.
“The shelling left ten militants killed,” Mohammadi added.
On Sunday, an army source was quoted saying that coalition jets bombed the group’s so-called Hisbah (vigilantes) office in Anah, west of Anbar.
Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the international coalition regularly pound IS locations in the province.
Anbar’s western towns of Anah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate. Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them.
Lt.Gen Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the Nineveh Operations, ordered to besiege IS havens in western Anbar preparing to invade them, a military source said in late July.
Iraqi fighter jets reportedly dropped millions of leaflets informing locals that liberation offensives for the province were nearing.
Iraq militia stop ISIS attack near Syrian border
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) The pro-government Shi’ite militias of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) has repulsed an attack by the Islamic State (IS) north of al-Waleed border crossing in western Anbar, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
A source from the government told Alsumaria News that the IS launched an attack on a headquarter of al-Hashd al-Shaabi north of al-Waleed border crossing.
“Violent clashes took place between al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces and IS militants,” the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Al-Hashd al-Shaabi repulsed the attack and caused losses among the attackers”.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, an alliance of more than 60 mostly Shia militias, has been actively engaged in the government’s campaign against the Islamic State that ran since mid-October, and contributed to the campaign by regaining control over IS holdouts near the Syrian borders.
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.
Bombings and armed attacks are seen on almost a daily basis against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016.
More than 500 Iraqis were killed and injured during the month of July due to violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).