Three security members die in car bombing in Fallujah
Up to three Iraqi security members died and four others were wounded Monday when suicide bombers from the Islamic State attempted to enter Anbars city of Fallujah with a booby-trapped vehicle.
AlQurtas News website said the car was stopped at Fallujahs western entrance before making it to the city, but exploded to cause the security casualties. But Anadolu Agency quoted Col. Waleed al-Dleimi, from the Iraqi army, putting the death toll at three.
However, making a statement on the incident, Interior Ministry spokesperson Saad Maan made no mention of the casualties among security members, only stating that the vehicle was brought under control and detonated after its driver was arrested.
Iraqi security forces, backed by a U.S.-led international military coalition and paramilitary troops, have been battling IS since the group came to the scene in Iraq in 2014 to proclaim an Islamic Caliphate.
Islamic State has held several areas in western Anbar since 2014, and has sustained occasional strikes by Iraqi and coalition fighter jets. Strikes on Sunday in Qaim, a major IS stronghold, left 40 fighters dead.
The Iraqi government is expected to aim at Anbar and other IS pockets once it is done eliminating the group from Mosul, the groups biggest stronghold where a security campaign has been running since October to retake the city.
Source: /Iraqi News
