News / Iraq

Daesh bombers attack military base, kill 3 Iraqi soldiers

Saturday, 26 March 2016 12:32 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 26 March 2016 6:13 PM ]

A file picture taken on November 11, 2014, shows Iraqi army soldiers standing before a conference on fighting the Daesh terrorist group attended by Iraq's tribal leaders and members of the government, at the al-Asad air base, in Iraq's Anbar province. (AFP photo)

A group of Daesh terrorists have launched an attack on a military base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, leaving three soldiers dead.

"Four ... bombers this morning infiltrated the military base of al-Asad on its northern edge," Head of the al-Jazeera Operations Command Major General Ali Ibrahim Daboun said on Saturday.

Daboun further noted that the Iraqi security forces killed the attackers who "were of various nationalities," but he did not specify any casualties among army ranks.

Al-Asad air base is one of Iraq’s largest military installations and is home to Iraqi federal forces and tribal fighters currently engaged in operations to liberate the nearby city of Hit from the control of Daesh terrorists, as well as to hundreds of foreign military advisers.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the US-led coalition allegedly fighting Daesh in Iraq and Syria, Colonel Steve Warren, was quoted as saying that no foreign nationals were involved in the incident.

Another Iraqi security source, who asked not to be named, said that a bomber managed to detonate his explosive-laden vest and killed three Iraqi soldiers, while wounding four, noting that "one of the killed soldiers had the rank of major.”

However, the officer said the number of bombers who conducted the attack was higher than four.

The Baghdad-based "war media cell" which issues statements for Iraq's pro-government forces also said that three soldiers had been killed in the assault, warning that the casualty figures were provisional.

The news comes a day after Iraqi armed forces made new advances in their fight against Takfiri terrorists and retook control of the town of Kubaysah, located in the city of Hit, in Anbar.

Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh terrorists launched an offensive in June 2014, and took control of portions of the Iraqi territory.

The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians. Iraqi army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint operations.

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