Two soldiers killed in suicide bombing south of Fallujah

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Two Iraqi army soldiers were killed and two others were injured Thursday when a suicide bombing targeted their checkpoint south of Anbar’s city of Fallujah.

A security source told Alsumaria News that a booby-trapped car driven by a suicide bomber attacked the checkpoint on Fallujah-Ameriyat al-Sumoud road, causing the casualties.

Islamic State has waged several attacks against security forces in Anbar and other provinces since Iraqi government forces launched a major offensive in 2016 to retake regions occupied by the extremist group since 2014.

The group has been holding a few hideouts in western Anbar since 2014 that are still awaiting an official order by the government for security operations. Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition fighter jets regularly carry out airstrikes against the group’s locations in those areas. Early January, the province’s army commnand launched a brief offensive against IS targets in the west, recapturing a few villages before halting again.

Last Sunday, Eid al-Karbouli, a spokesperson of the Anbar province council, was quoted by Alsumaria News as saying that there were not enough troops to take over the targeted Islamic State-held towns, adding that the forces available were not “well-prepared” to assume security at the province’s borders with Syria.