Islamic State attack Iraqi army in recaptured Qaim: source

Qaim (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have waged an attack on Iraqi army forces in Anbar’s western town of Qaim, a security source was quoted saying Tuesday, a few days after Iraqi forces seized the region from the militants.

The source told al-Rafidain channel that militants attacked army posts in Husaiba region. The forces repelled the attack with support from U.S.-led coalition warplanes, the source added.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi raised the Iraqi flag in Husaiba border crossing with Syria on Sunday, shortly after arriving in Qaim to declare its liberation from IS militants.

The victory leaves only the neighboring town of Rawa in Islamic State’s grip.

Since Islamic State militants took over large areas of Iraq and Syria to establish a self-styled “caliphate” in 2014, Iraqi government forces, backed paramilitary troops and U.S.-led coalition, launched a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions.

Local authorities and human rights agencies believe Islamic State members are holding tens of thousands of civilians in their western Anbar havens as future human shields, having killed hundreds for attempting to escape.

A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 114 Iraqi civilians were killed, while 244 others were wounded as result of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts, during October.