ISIL attacks kill 47 Iraqi soldiers near Ramadi

At least 47 Iraqi soldiers have been killed in a series of attacks by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters near the strategic city of Ramadi, military sources said.

The first attack took place overnight on the headquarters of the 3rd rapid deployment force and other military barracks in the villages of Qutainiyah and Zuwaiyah, near Zankurah town, the sources told Al Jazeera on Monday morning.

At least 22 soldiers were killed and a further 16 security personnel were injured in the attack.

On Monday afternoon, two separate ISIL suicide car bombers struck Iraqi Security Force convoys in the villages of Safiyrah and Abu Taiban, about 30km northwest of Ramadi.

At least 25 soldiers were killed and another 20 were injured in the twin attacks.

Iraqi forces declared victory over ISIL in Ramadi in late December and have since cleared most of the western city.

Since being pushed from the centre of Ramadi, ISIL has launched near-daily attacks on Iraqi forces, especially on its outskirts.

Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital where around half a million people once lived, was lost to ISIL in May 2015.

The US-led coalition carried out more than 600 air strikes in the area from July to December last year.
Source: Al Jazeera
 14/3/16
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