RAMADI, Iraq, July 31 (Xinhua) -- At least seven Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in the U.S.-led coalition airstrike in the IS-held areas in the western part of Iraq's Anbar province, an Iraqi army commander said on Monday.
The airstrike attacked IS post in north of the IS-held town of Rawa, some 320 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, destroying the IS post and killing seven militants, along with destroying two IS vehicles, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Muhammadi, commander of al-Jazira Operations Command, told reporters.
Separately, the Iraqi army defused and detonated a total of 97 roadside bombs in different areas near the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Earlier, the Iraqi security forces dislodged IS militants from the key cities of Anbar province, including Ramadi and the nearby Fallujah, but the areas near the border with neighboring Syria, including Aana, Rawa and al-Qaim as well as the vast rural areas across the province are still under the control of the extremist IS militants.
On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared Mosul's liberation from IS after nearly nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq.
Abadi has declared a new plan to liberate the IS-held town of Tal Afar from the extremist militants, which will include the participation of the predominantly Shiite paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units and Sunni tribal fighters.
The Iraqi forces still have to wage more offensives to drive out IS militants from their redoubts in Hawijah in southwestern Kirkuk, the adjacent sprawling rugged areas in eastern Salahudin province, in addition to the remaining IS strongholds in the border towns with Syria in western Anbar province.
