Iraqi officials say 23 soldiers, Sunni fighters killed

At least 23 Iraqi soldiers and government-allied militiamen were killed today in an attack by Islamic State militants in the turbulent Anbar province west of Baghdad, Iraqi military and police officials said.
The officials said today's attack, which killed 17 soldiers and six Sunni militia fighters, took place in the rural district of Jaramshah, north of Anbar's provincial capital, Ramadi.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
They said the IS fighters used suicide bombings and mortar shells and that chief of army operations in Anbar, Maj-Gen Qassim al-Dulaimi, was lightly wounded.

News of today's attack came two days after up to 50 soldiers were killed by the IS in two ambushes elsewhere in Anbar province, much of which is under IS control.