Airstrikes kill 15 civilians in Iraq

Baghdad, Dec 12 (IANS/EFE) An airstrike by an unidentied warplane near Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province in western Iraq killed at least 15 civilian members of the same family Friday, according to a medical source.

The attack targeted a house in the area known as Kilometre 18, west of Ramadi. It was not known whether the plane belonged to the Iraqi army or to one of the countries of the US-led international coalition.

The source added that the bodies of the victims were taken to a public hospital in the province, which has recently seen heavy clashes between the Iraqi forces and the Islamic State (IS) militants.

A security source said that violent clashes between the Iraqi army and IS fighters were underway in various areas in the Anbar province, that had recently fallen under the Islamic State's control.

Iraqi troops reportedly, were trying to recover those areas, but were facing determined resistance from the IS combatants.

The source added that the jihadis had captured 35 tribal fighters and transported them to the city of Hit.

In November, more than three hundred people belonging to local tribes were executed by the IS, which accuses them of supporting the Iraqi government.

Since the IS took control of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, last June, its fighters have come to dominate large areas in the north and west of the violence-torn Middle Eastern nation.

--IANS/EFE

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