Iraqi forces retake control of Anbar varsity, 9 militants killed

Iraqi security forces Saturday recaptured the Anbar University campus in Iraq's western province of Anbar in a fierce clash that killed at least nine militants, a provincial police source said.

Earlier in the day, dozens of gunmen stormed campus of Anbar University, located in the western edge of the provincial capital city of Ramadi with hundreds of students and teachers left trapped in the school buildings, Xinhua quoted the source as saying.

The troops opened a hole in the rear fence of the university and let the students and the university staff to flee the scene safely without any casualty, the source said.

The clashes between militant groups and a joint army and police force continued during the day in area surrounding the university, the source said, adding that nine militants were killed in the university battle.

Although it is still unclear who these attackers really are, the source said some of the armed men were believed to be associated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, an al-Qaida breakaway group in Iraq.

Ramadi is one of the two cities in Anbar that were seized by tribal and Sunni insurgents early this year.

The government forces have now regained control of central part of the city, while its suburbs and outlying areas continues to be the scene of bloody attacks by militants.