Anbar province crucial to liberate Mosul from IS: Iraqi minister

The Iraqi defense minister on Wednesday said that the country's western province of Anbar is vital to launch a major offensive to liberate the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) militants, while clashes with IS militants continued in west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

"We won't launch the operation to liberate Mosul (capital of northern province of Nineveh) unless securing Anbar (province)," the Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi, told reporters at a press conference in Baghdad.

Obeidi's comments came to highlight the priorities of the Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, as he emphasized on the significance of Mosul to Iraqis as it is the country's second largest city, but his troops focused on the Sunni heartland of Anbar in western Iraq.

"We are now focusing on Anbar. We have started with the town of Garma and soon we will liberate Garma and the nearby Fallujah (50 km west of Baghdad)," Obeidi said, adding that the security forces are planning to free the town of Heet, some 160 km west of Baghdad, which strategically is of a high importance.

"Fallujah will be liberated or besieged, that depends on the situation at the time," Obeidi said, as Fallujah is one of the main IS strongholds in Anbar province, which could be difficult for the Iraqi forces and allied militias to recapture.

Obeidi said the timing for Mosul battle is "very delicate and sensitive because it is very important for the history of the Iraqi army and for all Iraqis as well."

He also revealed that some intelligence reports said the IS militants are making some defensive measures around Mosul, about 400 km north of Baghdad, preparing for the fierce battles in the city.

As for the delay in the offensive to recapture Tikrit, Obeidi said that the Iraqi authorities are trying to find alternative options "to avoid casualties among civilians and damages in the infrastructure of the city as possible as we can."

Meanwhile, as part of the ongoing operations against the IS militants near the town of Garma, just east of the militant-seized city of Fallujah, the Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite and Sunni militias retook control of Albu Khanfar area and a bridge in north of Fallujah after heavy clashes that left at least seven IS militants killed and 15 others wounded, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The clashes near Garma are part of operations launched earlier in the month designed to drive out the extremist militants who from time to time approached Baghdad and fired mortar and rockets on the Shiite neighborhood of Shula, killing and wounding dozens of civilians during the past few months.

Separately, dozens of IS militants are preparing for an attack on the town of Ameriyat al-Fallujah, some 40 km west of Baghdad, while the militants are firing mortar rounds on the town, killing three civilians and wounding some 10 others, the source added.

Also in Anbar province, U.S.-led coalition warplanes pounded a building, which is said to be a safe house for IS militants in west of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, leaving nine militants killed and four others wounded, the source said.

For months, Anbar province has been the scene of fierce clashes between the IS militants and the security forces, which has gained support from some of the local Sunni tribes who rejected the presence of the extremist IS group.

In June last year, the IS has taken control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces. Endit