BAGHDAD, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- An Islamic State (IS) vehicle carrying explosives detonated Thursday killing two Iraqi army commanders and three Iraqi soldiers.
The soldiers have not been identified, but the commanders were determined to be Maj. Gen. Abdulrahman Mehdi Abu Raghef and Brigadier Safeen Abdulmajeed. Ten additional soldiers were injured in the attack, which took place in southern Ramadi, 60 miles west of Iraq's capital of Baghdad.
The offensive led by Iraqi forces against the IS has gained territory in some provinces north of Baghdad but been unable to wrestle control of several other areas, including Ramadi.
The news accompanies reports of IS militants seizing five villages overnight in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo. Militants then entered the nearby town of Marea and seized two additional villages near the country's border with Turkey. These two villages were formerly controlled by the al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of al-Qaida in Syria.
Al-Nusra Front was previously fighting against the IS but withdrew after the United States and Turkey declared a cooperation to ensure an IS-free zone in Aleppo.
It has also been an IS target for months as it is part of a key supply route that runs to the Turkish border.
Medical organizations also reported a potential mustard gas attack in Marea last Friday and activists accused the IS of the attack.
