ISIS renews attacks on Iraqi army in Anbar, 17 killed

While Iraqi and US officials have been hyping plans to surround the ISIS-held Anbar capital city of Ramadi, ISIS appears to have other ideas, launching a pair of ambushes over the weekend that left some 50 Iraqi soldiers killed in the area around Ramadi.

A series of Islamic State suicide auto bombings targeting a military outpost in Anbar province killed eight soldiers and wounded six Monday, military and security officials said, the latest extremist attacks to hit beleaguered Iraqi forces in the region. The majority of them were ambushed in the Anbar province in two separate attacks.

There was no immediate word from other authorities on the violence.

It is now the main focus of the Iraqi government’s efforts to regain lost ground, with large military operations under way in several parts of the province and multiple daily air strikes by jets from the US-led coalition. The two have been facing pressure from the group in the oil refinery town of Beiji, which was taken back from the group previous year.

Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi on Saturday toured the army’s command in Anbar. During a meeting with troops there, he counseled that forces there must use “caution and precision” when advancing to avoid “unjustified losses”.

“There is no place for those who neglect to carry out their missions and duties”.

It was not immediately clear whether the minister’s visit and the firing were linked to the deadly ambushes. The attack last month came during the last day of Ramadan and IS said it was meant for Shiite militia but most victims were civilians shopping for food and clothes.