17 killed in clashes with IS militants in Iraq
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At least 17 people were killed and 23 wounded on Wednesday in clashes between security forces and Islamic State (IS) militants in the Iraqi provinces of Salahudin and Anbar, security sources said.
In Salahudin province, heavy clashes erupted in the morning between IS militants and security forces backed by allied Shiite and Sunni militias in al-Mazraa area, just south of the oil refinery town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, leaving seven IS militants and one militiaman dead, while 14 other militiamen wounded, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The clashes came as the battles to free the provincial capital city of Tikrit from IS militants have been stalled for about two weeks as the militants planted thousands of bombs and booby-trapped dozens of buildings and cars.
Since March 2, some 30,000 Iraqi troops and thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias have been involved in Iraq's biggest offensive to recapture the northern part of Salahudin province, including Tikrit and other key towns and villages, from IS militants.
In Iraq's western province of Anbar, a suicide shovel truck bomber and dozens of IS militants attacked an army base in east of the militant-held town of Garma, just east of the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, sparking fierce clashes with the soldiers who managed to repel the IS attack which left four soldiers dead and six others wounded, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua.
The battles also left five IS militants dead and three others wounded, the source said.
For months, Anbar province has been the scene of fierce clashes between IS militants and security forces which have gained support from some of the local Sunni tribes who rejected the presence of the extremist IS group.
The IS has seized parts of Iraq's largest province Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.
The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 10 last year, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS.
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