Nearly a dozen Iraqi soldiers and allies killed fighting Islamic State near Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Several members of Iraqi security forces and allied tribesmen were killed by Islamic State forces in central Iraq and north of Baghdad, the latest bloodshed in an international war against the powerful militant group.

At least 11 Iraqi soldiers and tribal fighters died while 61 were wounded in the most recent round of fighting, the worst of which raged Sunday in Saladin province's Dujail district, 40 miles north of Baghdad, sources told Al Jazeera.

One policeman and five other persons were hit by IS shell fire against barracks and police positions in the town of Amiriyat Fallujah, southeast of the city of Fallujah, the sources said. Three Sunni tribal fighters from Sahwa (called the Awakening Movement) were also wounded in the missile attack.

Iraq's Sunni tribes have been seen as integral to Baghdad's fight against IS forces, and hundreds of tribesmen have suffered executions for opposing the extremists.

Despite such setbacks, U.S. Central Command reported more than 200 Sunni tribesmen's joining with Iraqi Security Forces in an official ceremony at Al Asad training facility Thursday.

For its part, CENTCOM reported one airstrike in Iraq Sunday against an IS tactical unit in Mosul, farther north of the fighting in Saladin province.

Two days earlier, though, it reported 11 such strikes against IS positions in other cities, including Taji, Al Asad, Fallujah, Bayji and Al Qaim.