Off the wire
• Urgent: Burundian president returns to capital after attempted coup: source  • Chinese Premier meets French foreign minister  • Feature: Kenyan technician secures lifeline in Chinese funded infrastructure projects  • China Southern opens air routes to Japan  • FLASH: BURUNDI'S PRESIDENT RETURNS TO CAPITAL AFTER ATTEMPTED COUP - -REPORT  • China highly values Sino-Latin America cooperation  • China lashes out at Philippines'playing up "China threat"  • Cameron meets with Scottish First Minister on power devolution  • APEC trade and investment committee meeting kicks off in Philippines  • Spotlight: China-India relations to take on new look  
You are here: 　 Home

IS militants capture government compound in Iraq's Ramadi

Xinhua, May 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Islamic State (IS) militants on Friday took control of the government compound in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, after fierce clashes with the security forces, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The militants carried out a major attack during the day on the government compound in the center of the city, which includes the buildings of the provincial government and the police headquarters, after the troops and allied Sunni militias withdrew from their positions, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The extremist militants started their attack with eight suicide car bombings and used armored shovel trucks to enter the heavily fortified compound of the city which located some 110 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said.

Heavy clashes are still underway inside the compound as groups of security members are still resisting the militants, who were believed to have captured a number of the security members and government-backed tribal fighters and executed them, the source added.

The IS militants launched a series of attacks in Ramadi since Thursday night and managed to seize the district Jamiyah and Albu Alwan in the city, leaving more than 20 security members killed and some 50 others wounded, he said.

Meanwhile, the source said that the IS militants also gained ground near the IS-held town of Garma, just east of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, as well as taking control of Jubba area near the town of Haditha, some 200 km northwest of Baghdad.

Last month, the IS militants who previously gained ground in the northern and eastern parts of Ramadi and frequently threatened to seize the provincial government compound.

The IS group has seized most of Iraq's largest province of Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since last June, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS militants. Endit