2nd LD: Iraq launches major offensive against IS in Anbar

Iraqi forces kicked off a major offensive to recapture key cities and towns held by Islamic State (IS) militants in the western province of Anbar on Monday, security sources said.

Brigadier General Yahiya Rasoul, spokesman of the Joint Operations Command, said the offensive started at 5:00 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) when the Iraqi army security forces, allied paramilitary Shiite militias known as Hashd Shaabi or popular mobilization, Sunni tribesmen and federal police forces moved toward their set targets.

The troops advanced in six directions across the province and seized parts of Sheiha and Saqlawiyah areas north of the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

While approaching Fallujah, the troops also advanced to the provincial capital city Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops met fierce resistance near Ramadi during clashes with IS militants west of the city, which halted their advance and left 12 soldiers and allied militiamen killed and some 20 others injured, along with four military vehicles destroyed, the source said.

Elsewhere, three suicide car bombs were detonated near the advancing troops near Saqlawiyah area, while heavy clashes erupted with dozens of IS militants at the scene, leaving dozens of killed and wounded from both sides, the source added.

As a result of offensive and heavy clashes, dozens of families left their homes in the city of Fallujah and resorted to safer areas near Albu Alwan, after the security forces managed to open a safe corridor for the families to flee the battle scene, according to the security source.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition aircraft bombarded an IS position at the industrial district in central Fallujah, killing seven militants, the source said citing intelligence reports. At least four civilians were killed and eight others wounded in air strikes by Iraqi aircraft, the source added.

Iraqi security forces and allied Hashd Shaabi paramilitary militias have been fighting for months to retake key cities and towns in Iraq's largest province of Anbar.

IS militants had seized most of the province and tried to advance toward Baghdad, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.

Amid the fierce battles in Anbar, the Iraqi government announced that the first batch of F-16 fighter jets had arrived in Iraq from the United States to provide air support to the boots on the ground.

The four planes are part of 36 fighter jets ordered by the Iraqi government to boost the capabilities of its security forces in the fight against the IS militants who have controlled large swathes of territories in several Sunni provinces in the country.

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

The IS militants took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces. Endit