33 killed in Iraq's Anbar province

A total of 33 people were killed on Saturday in US-led coalition air strikes and clashes between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants in the western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.

At least 11 IS militants were killed and three of their vehicles destroyed when international warplanes bombarded an IS headquarter in al-Doulab area west of the provincial capital Ramadi, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, two soldiers were killed and six others wounded, including an officer, in heavy clashes with IS militants in al-Doulab area, the source said.

Another air strike by international aircraft hits an IS position and killed eight more extremist militants in Falahat area near the IS-held city of Fallujah, the source said.

Separately, several roadside bombs were detonated near a military convoy in west of Ramadi, leaving eight security members killed and 14 others wounded, the source added.

In the province, four soldiers were killed and 15 others wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a military position and detonated it in east of the militant-seized town of Garma, the source said.

Last December, the troops recovered Ramadi, the provincial capital of the country's largest province of Anbar.

Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary units have been battling IS militants for re-control of large territories in northern and western Iraq that have been seized by the IS since June 2014.

--IANS

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