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35 killed in bomb attacks, clashes with IS militants in Iraq

Xinhua, September 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

A total of 35 people were killed on Monday in bomb attacks and clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's western province of Anbar, security sources said.

In the volatile Anbar province, a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden military Humvee into a military base that is housing army and allied Hashd Shaabi paramilitary militias and detonated it near the IS-held town of Garma, some 40 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The huge blast was followed by heavy mortar barrage on the base, the source said.

The multiple attacks near Garma left at least seven soldiers and allied militiamen killed and ten others wounded.

Meanwhile, the army artillery and aircraft bombarded IS positions in Kubaisah, an IS-held town some 170 km west of Baghdad, leaving 22 people killed; including seven IS militants, medical sources in the town said on condition of anonymity.

Also in the province, a force of Hashd Shaabi militia handed over six bullet-riddled bodies of local policemen to a police station in the town of Khaldiyah, some 80 km west of Baghdad, a local security source told Xinhua.

The bodies were found on the desert road between Khaldiyah and the Ameriyat al-Fallujah, some 40 km west of Baghdad, the source said, without giving further details about who were behind the killings which occurred at a well-protected road by Hashd Shaabi units.

Iraqi security forces and allied Hashd Shaabi paramilitary militias have been fighting for months to retake control of key cities and towns in the largest province from IS militants, which seized most of Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad.

Also on Monday, up to 35 people were kidnapped in Salahudin province at dawn. Dozens of masked gunmen wearing security uniforms and using four-wheel drive vehicles stormed the villages of al-Hajaj and Albu Tu'ma south of the battleground town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The residents of the two villages are known of their activities against the IS extremist group. the source said.

The predominantly Sunni province of Salahudin, in which Tikrit is the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein, has been the scene for deadly battles between the Iraqi security forces and IS militants. The IS has captured northern parts of the province as well as large swathes of territories in predominantly Sunni provinces. Endit