3 bomb attacks hit Iraq-Jordan border, leave 12 dead

Three car bombs have targeted Iraqi security forces at a border crossing with Jordan, leaving a number of people dead and injured.

According to Iraq’s Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, the attacks were carried out at the Trebill border crossing on Saturday.

He added that three Iraqi soldiers were killed in the bombings while 10 others sustained injuries. However, Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news outlet put the death toll at 12.

As the only border crossing between Iraq and Jordan, Trebill is located in a remote desert area and leads to the volatile province of Anbar in western Iraq, where Takfiri ISIL terrorists have a strong presence.

The attacks came hours after a high-ranking Iraqi army commander and three of his staff officers were killed when ISIL militants attacked government forces in Anbar. Authorities said a bomber rammed an explosive-ridden bulldozer into a convoy of Humvees in the Nadhem al-Taqseem region on Friday evening. The ISIL terrorists then opened fire on the convoy, killing a commander of the Iraqi 1st Division, Brigadier General Hassan Abbas Toufan, a colonel and two lieutenant colonels.

Terrorists with the Takfiri ISIL group have reportedly executed at least 6,000 people in Anbar since late 2013.

Media reports quoted official sources in Anbar as saying that the executions have taken place mainly in the city of Fallujah as well as in Ramadi.

The Iraqi army backed by volunteer forces has kicked off an operation to stop ISIL from advancing further and to retake occupied areas.

ISIL launched an offensive in Iraq in June last year and took control of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, before sweeping through parts of the country’s heartland.