18 killed in Iraq clashes

At least 18 people were killed and 170 others wounded Monday in clashes between Sunni tribesmen and Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's Salahudin province, a security source said.

The clashes erupted when dozens of militants attacked the defencive lines of fighters of the Al Jubour Sunni tribe in Dhuluiyah town, some 90 km north of Baghdad, Xinhua quoted the source as saying.

A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the northern entrance of Dhuluiyah but the tribesmen opened fire at him and blew him up.

Two more suicide car bombers followed the first attack, leaving nine policemen and tribal fighters dead and many others wounded.

Five more tribal fighters were killed in the clashes, while some 170 people, including civilians, were wounded in the town, mainly by the militants' mortar barrage.

Four militants who sneaked into the town by boat across the Tigris river were also killed in the clashes, the source said.

The source earlier put the toll at 14, including four militants, and seven others wounded in the clashes in the town.

Al Jubour tribesmen and police have been fighting the militants of IS, an Al Qaeda offshoot, for more than two months now. They repelled many attacks by the extremist group which once seized the town but was driven out.

Iraq is witnessing some of its worst violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, terrorism and violence have killed 5,576 civilians in Iraq in the first half of this year.