By Suleiman al-Qubaisi and Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA): At least 32 people were killed on Friday in clashes — which remain underway — between Daesh terrorists and pro-government tribal fighters in Iraq’s western Anbar province, according to Iraqi security sources.

“Iraqi army troops on Friday morning clashed with Daesh terrorists near Anbar’s T1 area some 40 kilometres southeast of the city of Al-Qaim,” Army Major-General Qasim al-Muhammadi told Anadolu Agency.

According to al-Muhammadi, at least 25 terrorists were killed in the melee.

“A large number of terrorists cut and ran, fleeing towards the centre of the Al-Qaim district,” he said.

Ahmed al-Dulaimi, an Anbar police captain, said Arab volunteer fighters had killed at least five Daesh militants in the same area late Thursday night.
“Two tribal fighters were killed in the fighting,” he said.

On Thursday, the Iraqi prime minister’s office announced that the army had launched fresh operations aimed at capturing Anbar’s Daesh-held border towns of Al-Qaim and Rawa.

After overrunning vast territories in Iraq and Syria in mid-2014, the terrorist group has recently suffered a string of defeats at the hands of the Iraqi army and a U.S.-led coalition.

In August, the group lost Tal Afar in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province. One month earlier, the city of Mosul — once the capital of Daesh’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” — fell to the army after a nine-month siege.

He pointed out that “Daesh gunmen were trying to block the progress of Iraqi forces towards the centre of Al-Qaim.”

Iraqi forces backed by Sunni tribal volunteers on Thursday recaptured the Jabbab district in Iraq’s western Anbar province from the Daesh terrorist group.

Earlier Thursday, the Iraqi prime minister’s office announced that the army had launched fresh operations aimed at capturing Anbar’s Daesh-held border towns of Al-Qaim and Rawa.

After overrunning vast territories in Iraq and Syria in mid-2014, Daesh has recently suffered a string of major defeats at the hands of the Iraqi army and a U.S.-led coalition.

In August, the terrorist group lost Tal Afar in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province. One month earlier, the city of Mosul — once the capital of Daesh’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” — fell to the army following a nine-month siege.

[Archive Photo: Iraqi soldiers fighting against Daesh in Albu Shajal region of Fallujah on 4 February 2016. Photographer: Ali Mohammed/AA]