52 killed in bomb attacks, air strikes against IS in Iraq

A total of 52 people were killed on Monday in bomb attacks, including three suicide bombings, and air strikes targeting Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's western province of Anbar, provincial security sources said.

The deadliest attacks occurred when three truck bombs struck military positions in Kharabsha, Ma'amil and Albu-Eitha near the IS-held provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, leaving 25 soldiers and members of allied militias known as Hashd Shaabi, or popular mobilization, and wounding 33 others, along with destroying 10 military vehicles, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Separately, eight people were killed and 11 others wounded when a helicopter gunship pounded suspected IS positions in Albu Bali area in northeast of Ramadi, the source said.

A U.S.-led coalition air strike hit an IS convoy of vehicles at the village of Rayhana near the city of Haditha, some 200 km northwest of Baghdad, killing at least ten IS militants and destroyed several vehicles, another security source anonymously told Xinhua.

Moreover, an Iraqi aircraft carried out an air strike on the militant-seized city of Rutba, some 370 km west of Baghdad, destroying a house, killing four people and wounding three others, the source said without giving further details.

Also in the province, two soldiers were killed and five injured in mortar barrage by IS militants on military positions in Falahat area in west of the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, a local security source told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb struck an army vehicle in Haswa area in east of Fallujah, killing three soldiers and wounding two others, the source added.

On July 13, the Iraqi authorities announced the start of a major offensive against IS militants to free key cities and towns in the largest province of Anbar province from IS militants.

Iraqi security forces and allied Hashd Shaabi paramilitary militias have been fighting for months to retake control of key cities and towns in Iraq's largest province of Anbar since the IS militants seized most of it and tried to advance toward capital Baghdad, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.