Iraqi army kills 34 IS militants in western provinces

The Iraqi army has announced a series of successes against the Islamic State in western Iraq’s Anbar province.

While the world’s attention has focused on fighting between IS and Kurdish peshmerga in northern Iraq, the Iraqi army has been trying to reverse the gains the insurgents made in the west of the country earlier this year.

On Tuesday, the army reported the deaths of 34 militants around the country.

In Fallujah, air strikes on an IS base killed 10 fighters, Iraqi commander Rashid Fallah said.

He added that fighting between IS and al-Bu Jalib and al-Bu Rishe tribesmen in Anbar’s northern Zanqura region saw 11 insurgents killed and two heavy weapons vehicles destroyed. 

In Haditha district, the militants reportedly executed four Iraqi soldiers by firing squad.

Six IS vehicles were destroyed and 13 fighters killed in an air strike in Daluiyya, Salahuddin province, Fallah claimed.

A fierce gun battle between IS militants and pro-government Shiite militias in the north-western city of Tikrit led to seven militiamen killed and two wounded.

A coalition of armed groups linked to the Islamic State took control of large parts of Iraq’s predominantly Sunni provinces in June and announced an Islamic caliphate.

Meanwhile, to the north of capital Baghdad, a suicide attack killed 10 and wounded 37 when a vehicle exploded late on Tuesday, security forces said.