Iraqi forces repel Islamic State car bomb attack in Ramadi

RAMADI, Iraq, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A commander of Iraqi forces fighting in Anbar province said his troops repelled suicide bombers attacking with three heavy vehicles in western Ramadi.

Maj. Gen. Ali Ibrahim Daboun told IraqiNews.com Tuesday that Iraqi troops and police destroyed two tanker trucks and a bulldozer that were filled with explosives and approaching their positions, killing everyone within.

At least two members of Iraqi security forces were injured in ensuing clashes with Islamic State militants, Daboun said.

Iraqi forces on July 28 fought off a similar attack -- featuring the coordination of suicide bombers and infantry -- on the University of Anbar complex, which they had seized from IS fighters two days prior.

Since July 13, Iraqi government forces have been on the offensive in Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital, though battles between IS and pro-government forces there have gone back and forth since early last year, when the militants spilled over from Syria.

At least 18 members of Iraq's security forces were killed and 30 wounded in clashes Sunday with IS militants northwest of Ramadi.

The day prior, Daboun told IraqiNews.com government forces west of the city killed nine IS fighters, destroyed two boats used by the militants and dismantled 72 roadside bombs "without any material or human losses."

IS forces captured Ramadi in May, sending Iraqi soldiers and police fleeing. Similar routes of Iraqi security forces occurred last year in places like Mosul, where about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers dropped weapons and ran from 800 attacking IS fighters.

Since then, the Iraqi government has been trying to re-capture territories lost to the Sunni extremist group. Kurdish forces have made several gains in the north, and a U.S.-led international coalition, known as Operation Inherent Resolve, began bombing IS forces in Iraq in August 2014.

As well, Iran-trained Shia militias, known as Hashd al-Shaabi, have assisted the Baghdad government in re-capturing cities such as Tikrit, in Salahuddin province to the north, but the Shia fighters had to be pulled from the largely Sunni Muslim city in April after reports of looting and atrocities.

Following the fall of Ramadi in May, Baghdad mobilized the Hashd al-Shaabi for anti-IS operations in Anbar.