Roundup: 72 killed in clashes, airstrikes against IS in Iraq

Iraqi security forces backed by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft continued their clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militants on Wednesday in the provinces of Anbar and Salahudin leaving a total of 72 people killed, security sources said.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, the security forces and allied paramilitary militias known as Hashd Shaabi, or popular mobilization, launched three attacks from the west and the south of the IS-held provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops fought fierce clashes with the IS militants near Ramadi and battles ended after three hours when suicide bombers detonated four truck bombs in the troops' positions, the source said.

The huge blasts left at least eight security members and militiamen killed and 17 others wounded, the source added.

On Tuesday, Ali Dawood, mayor of Khaldiyah town, just east of Ramadi, told Xinhua that the troops were making slow progress in the open lands toward Ramadi because of stubborn resistance from the IS militants and dozens of roadside bombs planted by the extremist militants.

Separately, at least eight Hashd Shaabi militiamen and two policemen were killed in the morning when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a security checkpoint in Nekheib area, some 400 km south of Ramadi, the provincial security source said.

Meanwhile, international warplanes bombarded IS positions near the town of Khaldiyah, some 80 km west of Baghdad, leaving at least 15 militants killed, the source said.

Five IS militants were killed and five others wounded in an air strike by an army helicopter gunship on four neighborhoods in the militant-seized city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, the source said, adding that four civilians were also killed by the attack and eight others wounded.

In addition, six people were killed and nine wounded when unknown warplane bombarded the town of Qaim, near the Iraqi-Syrian border, the source added.

On Monday, the Iraqi authorities announced the start of a major offensive against IS militants to free key cities and towns in Iraq's largest province of Anbar province from IS militants.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi security forces repelled an attack by IS militants, including a suicide bombing, in the oil refinery town of Baiji in the Salahudin province, killing at least 12 IS militants and 12 security members.

The attack occurred in the early morning when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden truck into the posts of the troops and Hashd Shaabi militias in the central part of the town of Baiji, 200 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a security source from Salahudin province anonymously informed Xinhua.

The powerful bomb blast was followed by the advance of dozens of IS militants towards the troops' posts, sparking heavy clashes lasting for hours, the source said.

"At least 11 soldiers and militiamen were killed and 10 others injured, while 12 IS militants died," the source said.

Also in Baiji, a Shiite militia leader from the Hashd Shaabi, Hadhir al-Qaisi, was killed and three of his bodyguards were wounded when they entered a booby-trapped house which exploded during a search operation, the source added.

The battle in Baiji comes about two weeks after security forces and allied militias, covered by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft, cleared most of the town following days of heavy clashes with extremist militants.

Sporadic clashes persist in Iraq's largest oil refinery nearby as security forces fight to drive IS militants out of the refinery, which militants have seized large sections of.

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