BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribal fighters launched an offensive on Tuesday to dislodge ISIS militants and secure a supply route in Anbar province, police and tribal sources said.
In an other action, bomb attacks across the country killed at least 32 people.
The deadliest was when a car packed with explosives was detonated in the mainly Shi’a district of New Baghdad in northeastern Baghdad, killing 16 people and wounding 48. Two other bombs hit the the central town of Tarmiya and Mandali, a predominately Kurdish Shi’a town.
The pro-government offensive tackled ISIS militants near the western outpost of Haditha in a bid to secure a route to the nearby Ain al-Asad military base.
Haditha and its nearby dam are in one of the few parts of the Sunni Muslim province of Anbar still under the control of Iraq’s government forces, who were driven out of the provincial capital Ramadi in May. The offensive started with army and police forces backed by Sunni tribal fighters attacking the Albu Hayat area, southeast of Haditha, police and tribal sources said.
Militants have used the area to strike the supply route to Ain al-Asad where U.S. Marines are training Iraqi troops.
As well as the bombing in New Baghdad, two others were killed in bomb attacks in Zafaraniya, the predominantly Shi’ite southern district of the capital.
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