IS car bombs kill 10 in Ramadi, Iraq

RAMADI, Iraq, March 11 (UPI) -- A coordinated Islamic State attack in Ramadi, Iraq, Wednesday, involved seven car bombings, killing 10 and injuring 30.

Suburbs of the city of about one half million, 60 miles west of Baghdad, are under IS control, and the near-simultaneous car bombings occurred in government-held parts of the central area, which have come under regular IS attack. Police said fighting, including mortar rounds fired at government's provincial council headquarters, followed the car bombs. The attacks occurred as IS began an offensive on the strategic town of Ras al-Ain, on the Syria-Turkey border, where forces linked to al-Qaida were expelled in 2013 by Kurdish soldiers. The assault Wednesday initiated intense fighting with the town's Kurdish militia.

"Fighters from the Islamic State group started a huge assault towards Ras al-Ain, and were able to take over a village nearby," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that Ras Al-Ain was under Kurdish control.

The day before, Iraqi and allied soldiers entered the city of Tikrit, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, to dislodge IS troops.