18 killed in air strikes, clashes with IS militants in Iraq

At least 18 people were killed and 36 wounded on Wednesday in battles with the Islamic State (IS) militants in Salahudin province and air strikes on suspected IS positions in the western province of Anbar, security sources said.

In the northern central province of Salahudin, the security forces and allied militias known as Hashd Shaabi, or popular mobilization, repelled multiple attacks by dozens of IS militants, mortar barrage and three suicide car bombers in Fat'ha area, just north of the battleground town of Baiji, which itself located some 200 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The several-hour battles started after midnight when the three suicide bombers blew up their explosive-laden cars into the defensive lines of the troops under heavy mortar barrage and gunfire from dozens of the extremist militants, leaving at least five federal policemen and three suicide bombers killed and the eight security members wounded, the source said.

The battles ended in the morning when Iraqi aircraft, reinforcement troops and militias arrived to the battlefield, the source said without giving further details about the casualties among the attackers who fled the scene.

The battles in Fat'ha, came as heavy clashes between troops and IS militants continued in the town of Baiji and Iraq's adjacent largest oil refinery, as the troops are fighting to free the town from IS militants who captured parts of it and the refinery, the source added.

Since March 2, security forces and thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias have been involved in Iraq's biggest offensive in order to recapture from IS militants the northern part of Salahudin province, including Tikrit and other key towns and villages.

In Anbar province, Iraqi aircraft pounded four houses in two neighborhoods in the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 15 others, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua.

In addition, the aircraft bombed a house in an area located just south of Fallujah, leaving five family members killed and eight people from the neighboring houses wounded, the source said.

The IS group has seized most of Anbar province and tried to advance towards Baghdad during the past few months, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.

In Baghdad, five people were wounded in a car bomb explosion at a garage in Palestine Street in eastern the capital, a police source told Xinhua, adding that the blast also damaged several nearby civilian cars.

Iraq has been witnessing some of the worst violence in years. Terrorism and violence have killed at least 12,282 civilians and wounded 23,126 others in 2014, according to United Nations report. Endit