Baghdad: A suicide attack carried out by Islamic State group fighters killed at least five members of the Iraqi security forces today in the city of Ramadi, army officers said.
The Iraqi army earlier this year regained control of Ramadi, the capital of the country’s vast Anbar province, and in recent weeks has been battling to retake Fallujah, another city in the province, from IS jihadists.
Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi said the IS attack targeted an army base in Ramadi with several explosives-laden vehicles driven by suicide bombers and gunmen who fired on soldiers. “Our forces killed all the attackers and destroyed all the car bombs but there were a number of killed and wounded among army ranks,” said Mahalawi, who heads the operations command for Anbar province.
Two senior Iraqi army officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said five soldiers were killed and 11 wounded in the attack.
The attack highlighted IS’s continued ability to stage deadly operations in areas where it lost control of territory, as the government seeks to bring local populations back and start rebuilding.
Fallujah, which lies about half way between Baghdad and Ramadi, 50 kilometres west of the Iraqi capital, is IS’s last major bastion in Anbar.
PTI