23 IS militants killed, as security forces repel two attacks in Iraq

The Iraqi security forces on Wednesday repelled two attacks of Islamic State (IS) militants, including suicide car bombings, in the Iraqi provinces of Anbar and Salahudin, leaving a total of 23 extremist militants killed, security source said.

In the western province of Anbar, three suicide bombers drove their explosive-laden vehicles into the positions of the security forces near al-Wafaa area, just west of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, but the troops destroyed the vehicles with anti-tank guided missiles and killed the three suicide bombers aboard, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Minutes later, dozens of IS militants attacked the security positions, sparking a four-hour battle between the two sides, which left 14 IS militants and two security members killed while five other soldiers wounded, the source said.

The clashes came a day after the Iraqi military said in a statement that the security forces flush out IS militants from the eastern part of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, which located some 110 km west of Baghdad.

Government troops and allied militias have also been fighting for months to take back other key cities and towns in Anbar, Iraq's largest province, from IS militants, who previously seized most of Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad.

In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, the security forces repelled another attack by IS militants in al-Jazira area in west of the city of Samarra, which located some 120 km north of Baghdad, killing six extremist militants, while three security members were wounded by the clashes, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The Sunni Arab predominated province of Salahudin has been the scene of a major offensive by Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, which managed to retake control of key towns of the province from the hands of IS militants who seized large part of it in June 2014. Endit