Soldier, 8 civilians killed by suicide bomber in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) One Iraqi soldier and eight civilians were killed when an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up west of Anbar, a military source was quoted saying in a press statement.

Col. Walid al-Dulaimi said that four suicide bombers snuck into al-Shohadaa region in al-Baghdadi, west of Anbar. Security forces shot three dead after trapping them at a house. But the fourth blew himself up, killing eight civilians and one army member.

The blast wounded 11 other people, including eight soldiers.

Baghdadi is currently under the control of security forces and allied paramilitary troops. IS members have regularly infiltrated the area to wage attacks against civilians and security forces.

Anbar’s western towns of Annah, Qaim and Rawa have been held by the extremist group since 2014, when it emerged to proclaim a self-styled Islamic “Caliphate”.

Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the U.S.-led international coalition have also regularly pounded IS locations in the province. The Iraqi government is expected to aim at those strongholds once its campaign in Mosul, now in its eighth month, is concluded.

Violence and armed conflicts left 824 Iraqis dead and wounded during the month of May, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq which excludes security members deaths