35 killed in clashes with, air strikes on IS militants in western Iraq

A total of 35 people were killed on Sunday in U.S.-led coalition air strikes and clashes between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State (IS) militants in the western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.

At least 17 IS militants were killed and five of their vehicles destroyed when international warplanes bombarded IS positions in Albu Ali al-Jasim in north of the provincial capital Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Separately, six soldiers were killed and eight others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car into a military base in Roufa area in northeast of the militant-seized town of Garma in east of the flashpoint city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said.

The suicide bombing was followed by an attack of dozens of IS militants on the military base, sparking heavy clashes with the troops which resulted in the killing of 12 extremist militants, the source said, adding that international warplanes took part in the battle, bombed the attackers and destroyed a vehicle carrying heavy machine gun.

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 was seized by the IS since June 2014.

Source: XINHUA