Security forces repel suicide car bomb attacks in Iraq's Anbar

Iraq security forces on Wednesday repelled four out of five suicide car bomb attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants on security forces in Iraq's western province of Anbar, leaving all suicide bombers and six soldiers killed, a provincial security source said.

The attacks occurred in the morning when five suicide bombers drove their explosive-laden vehicles near the positions of the security forces in Zkhaikha area, near the town of Heet, which located some 160 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The security forces backed by U.S.-led coalition aircraft opened fire on the attackers and destroyed four car bombs before reaching their targets, but the fifth managed to reach near the troops and detonated his car bomb, killing six soldiers and wounding 13 others, the source said.

Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni paramilitary tribal units have been battling IS militants to repossess control of large territories in northern and western Iraq, seized by the IS since June 2014.

The troops have so far recovered Ramadi, the provincial capital of the country's largest province of Anbar last December.

Currently, the troops are fighting to regain the rest of the province of Anbar from IS militants. So far, the troops reached areas near the towns of Heet and Kubaisa in west of Ramadi, while simultaneously preparing a major offensive against the IS-controlled city of Mosul, the northern Iraq's second largest city. Endit