30 IS militants killed in clashes, 5 suicide car bomb attacks in Iraq

At least 30 Islamic State (IS) militants, including five suicide bombers, were killed Thursday in armed clashes and five suicide car bomb attacks across Iraq, security source told Xinhua.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden truck into the positions of the security forces and allied paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, in Hiyakil area, just south of the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving the suicide bomber and at least three security members killed and five other troops injured, a provincial security source said on condition of an anonymity.

The first suicide attack was followed by three more suicide car bomb attacks on the security positions, but the troops backed by Iraqi aircraft managed to blew them up and killed their suicide bombers before they reach their targets, the source said.

In the mean time, heavy clashes erupted as dozens of IS militants carried out attack on the security positions, but the troops repelled the attack killing 12 extremist militants killed and 16 others injured, the source added.

The troops have been fighting for months to retake control of key cities and towns in Anbar from IS militants, who have seized most of the province and tried to advance toward Baghdad.

In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, IS militants carried out attacks from two directions on the city of Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, making use of the thick fog during the early morning hours, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The IS militants started their attack with a suicide car bomb explosion which was followed by heavy fire mortar rounds, but the troops and allied Hashd Shaabi units repelled the attacks and forced the attackers to withdraw to the desert in west of the city, the source said, adding that at least nine IS militants, including the suicide bomber, were killed in the clashes, while two security members were also killed and seven others wounded.

In Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, the IS militant also used the thick fog of the early morning hours and attacked the village of Basheer, in south of the provincial capital city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, but the security forces and allied Hashd Shaabi units fired back and killed at least five IS militants, forcing the attackers to withdraw to the IS-held areas in southwestern the province, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

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