3 soldiers killed in Daesh attack in western Iraq

By Suleiman al-Qubeisi

ANBAR, Iraq (AA) - Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and five others injured in clashes with Daesh militants in western Iraq on Wednesday, according to a local police officer.

Captain Ahmed al-Duleimi said Daesh militants staged a brazen attack with car-bombs on a military headquarters in Rutba city, 310 kilometer west of Ramadi.

“Three soldiers were killed and five others injured in ensuing clashes with the attackers,” he said.

According to al-Duleimi, Iraqi forces managed to thwart the attack and killed the ten bombers.

The Iraqi military has yet to comment on the attack.

Last month, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and local allies on the ground -- launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, the last Daesh stronghold in northern Iraq.

Once Iraq’s second largest city in terms of population, Mosul -- along with additional swathes of territory in the country’s north and west -- was overrun by Daesh in mid-2014.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army and its allies retake much territory from the terrorist group, especially on Mosul’s outskirts and in the western Anbar province.