Iraqi forces repel ISIL attack in Anbar, kill 12 terrorists: Officials

Iraqi army soldiers (file photo)
At least 12 members of the ISIL terrorist group have been killed after Iraqi troops, backed by volunteer forces, repelled the Takfiris’ attack on a town in the western province of Anbar, officials say. 

 

On Friday, the terrorists launched a raid on the town of Khalidiyah with mortars and car bomb attacks, Anbar councilman Athal al-Fahdawi said.
The terrorists retreated following an hours-long battle, in which 10 Iraqi soldiers lost their lives, army officers said.
Meanwhile, a representative for Iraq's most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on regional countries to take "decisive measures" to stop the flow of foreign militants into Iraq.
"The continuation of the policy of carelessness and giving a blind eye on the flow of these fighters to Iraq will increase the danger of these gangs to Iraq and they will represent a threat to their countries," Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai said during a Friday prayers sermon in the holy city of Karbala.
The ISIL extremists currently control parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria. They have carried out atrocious crimes in the two countries, including mass executions and the beheading of people.
Earlier this year, the US National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) said in its latest estimate that more than 20,000 people from various countries, including many Westerners, have joined ISIL and other extremist groups in Syria.
Foreign militants from over 90 countries, including at least 3,400 people from Western countries and more than 150 Americans, have traveled to Syria to join the terrorist groups there, the NCTC added.