A total of 59 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Wednesday in clashes with Iraqi security forces and airstrikes against their positions across the country even as US military advisors arrived to train security forces fighting the Sunni radical group.
In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, Iraqi army soldiers backed by Shia militias carried out an offensive on IS positions in Mansouriyah area, some 100 km northeast of Iraq's capital Baghdad, and fought fierce clashes with the extremist militants, leaving at least 12 militants dead, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Also in Diyala, the security forces clashed with IS militants in Albu-Talha area in the northeastern part of the province and killed 15 militants, along with destroying six of their vehicles, the source said.
In Anbar province, Iraqi security forces backed by US-led coalition aircraft repelled in the early hours of the day an attack carried out by dozens of IS militants who tried to storm the town of al-Baghdadi, some 200 km northwest of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua, adding that at least 13 militants were killed and nine of their vehicles were destroyed in the battles and the air strikes.
Since December last year, insurgent attacks continue in the Sunni Arab heartland in west of Baghdad that stretches through Anbar province, which has been the scene of fierce clashes that flared up after Iraqi police dismantled an anti-government protest site outside the city of Ramadi.
In Salahudin province, Iraqi warplanes carried out an airstrike on the house of Abdullah al-Annag, a senior IS leader, during a meeting of local IS leaders in his house, just west of the town of Dhuluiyah, some 90 km north of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua.
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The air strike destroyed the house and left nine IS group leaders killed, the source said citing intelligence reports.
In addition, Iraqi warplanes carried out an air strike on an IS militant position west of the city of Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, killing 10 militants, destroying two vehicles with heavy machine guns and destroying a large cache of weapons and explosives, the source added.
Meanwhile dozens of US military advisors arrived in the war-orn country Wednesday to train the country's security forces as they continue to face obstacles in their fight against the IS, officials said.
In western Iraq, up to 100 US advisors arrived at two air bases in the volatile province of Anbar and are expected to start training of the Iraqi troops to battle IS militants, who have seized large parts of the province, Sabah Karhout, head of the provincial council, told reporters.
"Habaniyah air base in east of the provincial capital city of Ramadi and Asad air base near the town of Baghdadi, received 100 US military advisors," Xinhua quoted Karhout as saying.
"The US advisors will train and advise the Iraqi troops, including police and government-backed tribal fighters, in their fight against the Islamic State in the militant-seized cities and towns in the Anbar province," he added.
In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, another group of US military advisors arrived in the Karkosh military base in the early morning hours, a source from Dijlah Operations Command, told Xinhua on the condition of anonymity.
"This is the first group of American advisors that reached Diyala province after the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq late in 2011. Their mission is supervising and providing advice in training the Iraqi security forces, to improve their fighting skills in confronting the terrorist gangs," the source, whose command is responsible for security in the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk and Salahudin, said without detailing the number of the advisors.