Suicide strikes slay 17 Iraq troops

 In this May 14, 2015 file photo, security forces defend their headquarters against attacks by Islamic State extremists during a sandstorm in the eastern part of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, Iraq. An Iraqi military spokesman said Wednesday, May 27, 2015, that Islamic State extremists used a sandstorm that engulfed most of Iraq on Tuesday night to unleash a wave of suicide attacks targeting the Iraqi army in western Anbar province, killing at least 17 troops in a major blow to government efforts to dislodge the militants from the sprawling Sunni heartland.
In this May 14, 2015 file photo, security forces defend their headquarters against attacks by Islamic State extremists during a sandstorm in the eastern part of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, Iraq. An Iraqi military spokesman said Wednesday, May 27, 2015, that Islamic State extremists used a sandstorm that engulfed most of Iraq on Tuesday night to unleash a wave of suicide attacks targeting the Iraqi army in western Anbar province, killing at least 17 troops in a major blow to government efforts to dislodge the militants from the sprawling Sunni heartland.

BAGHDAD -- Islamic State extremists unleashed a wave of suicide attacks targeting the Iraqi army in western Anbar province, killing at least 17 troops in a major blow to government efforts to dislodge the militants from the sprawling Sunni heartland, an Iraqi military spokesman said Wednesday.

The attacks came just hours after the Iraqi government announced Tuesday the start of a wide-scale operation to recapture areas under the control of the Islamic State extremist group in Anbar.

Brig. Gen. Saad Maan Ibrahim, the spokesman for Iraq's Joint Military Command, said the attacks took place late Tuesday outside the Islamic State-held city of Fallujah.

The militants struck near a water-control station and a lock system on a canal between Lake Tharthar and the Euphrates River where army forces have been deployed for the Anbar offensive, he said.

Ibrahim added that the Islamic State extremists used a sandstorm that engulfed most of Iraq on Tuesday night to launch the deadly wave of bombings. He said it was not clear how many suicide attackers were involved in the bombings, but they hit the military from multiple directions.

Last month, the water station near Fallujah fell into the hands of Islamic State militants -- after attacks that also included multiple suicide bombings and that killed a dozen officers and soldiers, he said.

Iraqi government forces recaptured the station a few days later. Fallujah lies to the east of the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, which was captured by the Islamic State militants nearly two weeks ago in what was a major defeat for Iraqi troops at the hands of the extremists.

The Iraqi operation to retake Anbar, which is said to be backed by Shiite militias and Sunni pro-government fighters, is deemed critical in regaining momentum in the fight against the Islamic State.

The extremists captured Ramadi in Iraq and the Syrian ancient town of Palmyra earlier this month, despite months of U.S.-led airstrikes. Capt. Andrew Caulk, a U.S. Air Force spokesman in Qatar, said it will continue to provide air support "to government-controlled Iraqi forces" throughout the country, including near Ramadi, where it has been carrying out airstrikes for several months.

In Palmyra, Syrian activists said Islamic State militants shot dead a group of detainees in the Roman theater in the town's ancient ruins after gathering people to watch. They said gunmen killed at least 15 men after accusing them of having fought with President Bashar Assad's troops.

The executions were reported by activists belonging to a Palmyra-based media collective and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The theater is part of the 2,000-year-old Roman-era ruins in Palmyra.

Syria's foreign minister also said Wednesday that his government is not optimistic that the U.S.-led coalition striking at Islamic State militants in his country will make a difference.

At a news conference in Damascus, Walid al-Moallem said the coalition was active in preventing the Kurdish town of Kobani from falling to the extremists last year, but that this support seems to have "evaporated" after that.

The United States did nothing to prevent Palmyra or Anbar in Iraq from falling into their hands, he said.

"We're not pinning any hopes on that alliance and anyone who does is living an illusion," al-Moallem added.

Al-Moallem said the security coordination between Iraq's and Syria's armies "has not reached the desired levels."

Also Wednesday, Syrian activists said the Islamic State released two Christian women who had been held along with dozens of others since February in northeastern Syria.

At the time, extremists kidnapped more than 220 Assyrian Christians after overrunning several farming communities on the southern bank of the Khabur River in Hassakeh province.

The two women, who are 70 and 75 years old, were released Tuesday and have now reached the northwestern city of Hassakeh, said Osama Edwards, director of the Assyrian Network for Human Rights.

Edwards said the Islamic State is still holding 210 Assyrian Christians and is demanding $100,000 for each hostage.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius called on the international community to strengthen its mobilization against the Islamic State ahead of an international meeting on Iraq organized next week.

Members of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group will gather Tuesday in Paris, including Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Fabius, whose country is engaged in airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq, said Tuesday that "France is taking its responsibilities ... but everybody must do what needs to be done." He said the situation in Syria will also be discussed.

Information for this article was contributed by Bassem Mroue, Zeina Karam, Adam Schreck and staff members of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/28/2015

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