Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Three Iraqi soldiers were wounded as a rocket fired from Syria targeted their patrol in western Anbar, a security source from the province said on Wednesday.

“Three Iraqi soldiers were injured at the Iraqi-Syrian borders, near Qaim, after their patrol was targeted,” the source told Alghad Press. “The patrol was targeted by a rocket fired from Syrian lands.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced, earlier this month, full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members.

In November, Abadi said his country has defeated Islamic State over the military level, but will declare final victory after desert areas are purged of militants. Earlier in the month, Iraqi forces recaptured Anbar’s western town of Rawa, the very last bastion under Islamic State control.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

A total of 117 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 264 injured, excluding police, in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, with 201 civilian casualties (51 killed, 150 injured). Salahuddin Governorate followed, with 24 killed and 60 injured, and Kirkuk had 12 killed and 28 injured.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting since October 2016 to retake territories Islamic State had occupied.





