34 IS militants killed in Iraq's Anbar

Baghdad, March 31: A total of 34 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in air strikes and bomb attacks in Iraq's western province of Anbar on Wednesday, a provincial security source said.

In one attack, three suicide bombers drove their explosive-laden vehicles into the positions of the security forces in Thirthar area north of the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad. The troops destroyed the vehicles with guided anti-tank missiles and killed the three suicide bombers aboard, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Separately, 17 IS militants were killed in an air strike by US-led coalition warplanes on near the town of Heet, some 160 km west of Baghdad, the source said.

Meanwhile, coalition warplanes bombarded a fuel station used by IS militants in the town of Heet, killing 14 IS militants and destroying three fuel truck tanks, the source added.

In Anbar province, three security members were killed and five others wounded when trying to defuse two roadside bombs in the provincial capital city Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, the source said.

Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni paramilitary tribal units have been battling IS militants to repossess control of large territories in northern and western Iraq, seized by the IS since June 2014.

The troops have so far recovered Ramadi, the provincial capital of the country's largest province of Anbar last December.

IANS