Iraqi forces foil 6 suicide car bombings on key dam in Anbar province

Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribal fighters on Sunday thwarted six suicide car bombings and a multiple attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants on a dam in Iraq's western province of Anbar, while Iraqi helicopter gunships struck the IS positions elsewhere in the province, a provincial security source said.

The attack occurred in the morning when dozens of IS militants launched their attacks by sending at least six suicide car bombs followed by heavy clashes with the troops and allied tribal fighters around the dam outside the town of Haditha, some 200 km northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops detonated the booby trapped cars by anti-tank guided missiles before reaching their targets and killed some 20 extremist militants in addition to the six suicide bombers, while at least 10 Iraqi soldiers and policemen were killed and 16 others wounded, the source said.

The IS militants repeatedly carried out attacks to seize the key dam near Haditha on the Euphrates river but were repelled by the troops and local Jughaifi Sunni tribesmen.

The dam accommodates a hydraulic power station with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts. Its destruction would take a toll on Iraq's electrical supply and even trigger major flooding.

Meanwhile, at least six IS militants were killed and nine wounded when an army helicopter gunship pounded an IS position in the center of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, the source added.

Moreover, the Iraqi helicopters pounded an IS position in Hitawiyn area in south of the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, leaving five militants killed, including a local leader, he said.

The IS group has seized most of Anbar province and tried to advance toward Baghdad during the past few months, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 10, 2014, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and IS militants.