Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces killed four suicide bombers while a fifth one killed a whole family west of Anbar, a senior army commander said Friday.

Qassem al-Mohammadi, head of the army’s Al-Jazeera Operations, said in statements that security forces, backed by Tribal Mobilization troops, trapped five suicide bombers in al-Baghdadi region (90 Km west of Ramadi).

“The suiciders sneaked into al-Baghdadi through the desert, four of them were killed, while a fifth one blew himself up inside a house, killing a whole family of six, two parents and four children,” Mohammadi stated.

Government and tribal forces have occasionally repelled attacks by suicide bombers in Baghdadi ad Doulab regions, with the encounters usually leaving civilian casualties.

Islamic State has held the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim, on Anbar’s borders with Syria, since 2014, when they occupied a third of Iraq to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”. So far, there has not been a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions, but occasional offensives managed to take over several surrounding villages.

The Iraqi government declared victory over IS in Mosul, the group’s former capital in Iraq, earlier this month, and said it was going to proceed towards other group holdouts.

The Ministry of Defense said Wednesday that though the Joint Operations Command gives “special attention” to the liberation of Tal Afar as the next target, troops can launch simultaneous operations also targeting IS havens west of Anbar.

On Thursday, Iraqi warplanes dropped millions of messages telling locals that liberation offensives for the province were nearing.







