Clashes, bomb attacks kill 38 in Iraq

Iraqi security forces and U.S.-led coalition air strikes fought back attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, leaving 30 militants, while eight soldiers were killed in the western province of Anbar, security sources said on Sunday.

One attack occurred late Saturday night, when dozens of IS militants attacked three military bases of Kurdish security forces, known as Peshmerga, in the west of the city of Kikruk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, said Kamal Kirkuki a Peshmerga officer.

"The Peshmerga troops backed by artillery and U.S.-led coalition aircraft repelled the attacks and forced them to retreat, leaving at least 30 militants killed," Kirkuki told Xinhua by telephone.

The international warplanes also bombarded a large IS weapon warehouse near the village of Houriyah in southwest of Kikruk, sparking huge explosions at the scene and destroying several four-wheel drive vehicles, Kirkuki said.

In Anbar province, a suicide car bomb and two roadside bombs detonated near the security forces in the village of Abu Fleis which located near the town of Habbaniyah, some 80 km west of Baghdad, leaving eight soldiers killed and five others injured, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The attacks in the village came after heavy clashes between the IS militants and the troops backed by allied militias, known as Hashd Shaabi, or popular mobilization, as the IS militants had seized the village two days ago but the troops recaptured it next day.

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

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 10, 2014, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and IS militants. Endit