AT LEAST 60 PEOPLE KILLED IN IRAQ

Baghdad, 28 Muharram 1436/21 November 2014 (MINA) – At least 60 people, including 38 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants, have reportedly been killed in bomb attacks and airstrikes in Iraq on Thursday.

There were clashes between Iraqi army troops and militants in the country’s Anbar, Baghdad and Suleymaniyah provinces, according to Iraqi local sources.

Eight ISIL militants were killed in U.S.-led airstrikes, according to Anadolu Agency reports quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), Friday.

At least 20 gunmen were killed, and explosives placed in five homes were destroyed in security forces’ operations in Baghdad’s al-Anaz and al-Itr regions, and 76 explosives were defused in the operations, according to a statement from Baghdad Operational Command’s press office.

The local council chief of the Baghdadi district of Anbar, Malallah al-Ubaydi told the AA correspondent that at least 30 ISIL militants were killed and two car bombs were destroyed in operations in Baghdadi.

Ubaydi also said that security forces retook control of the Ad-Dulab and Zehiha regions.

In Iraq’s Ramadi city, two people died and five people were wounded, including two policemen in a car bomb attack, according to the AA correspondent in the region.

No one took responsibility for the attack.

Since mid-June, fighting in Iraq has pitted the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga forces against ISIL militants, who are currently in control of large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

The U.S. is leading an international coalition, which includes France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia that has carried out numerous airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq andSyria.

According to the U.N., an estimated 1.8 million citizens have been internally displaced this year throughout Iraq. (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)