Iraqi forces repulse Islamic State attack in Anbar

By Sulaiman Al Qubaisi & Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters have repulsed a Islamic State attack on al-Ratbah city in the western Anbar province, a local official said Monday.

Imad Meshaal, al-Ratbah mayor, said that IS militants had attacked the city, using a booby-trapped vehicle and mortar shells.

“[But] police forces and tribesmen managed to repulse the attack,” he told Anadolu Agency.

According to Mashaal, a number of IS militants were killed in the attack, while “the others were forced to withdraw”.

“Three security personnel were also injured in the attack,” he said.

Meanwhile, five people were killed in a spate of attacks in Iraq on Monday.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a military vehicle in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, killing an army officer and injuring another, police officer Hamed al-Momin told Anadolu Agency.

Two people were also killed and eight others injured in a bomb blast in southern Baghdad, he said.

According to al-Momin, another bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, killing two people and injuring six others.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Iraqi officials often blame the attacks on IS terrorist group, which seized swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in 2014.

AA