Iraqi army dismantles 200 explosive devices in Anbar

Iraqi security forces have discovered and defused nearly 200 explosive devices in the country’s western province of Anbar.

The commander of al-Jzeera and al-Bdiya Operations, Major General Ali Ibrahim, said in a statement that on Saturday as many as 199 explosive devises were found and dismantled during a military operation carried out by the security forces in the al-Sakra region, near the city of Haditha, some 180 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Ramadi, Iraqi News online newspaper reported on Sunday.

In the same operation, “security forces were able to blow up and destroy booby-trapped vehicles driven by suicide bombers and seize 40 Katyusha rockets,” the senior commander said, adding that an ISIL sniper was also slain during the operation.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Federal Police Chief Major General Raed Shakir Jawdat said in a statement that eight Takfiri terrorists were killed on Friday and 17 anti-tank rockets were seized after the security forces and the Federal Police foiled an ISIL attack on the Husaybah town, seven kilometers east of Ramadi.

In that operation, four ISIL vehicles carrying ammunition were destroyed, Jawdat added.

Violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since ISIL Takfiris launched a deadly terror campaign in the country in June 2014. The ISIL terrorists have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious groups in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.