ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition airstrikes killed upwards of 100 Islamic State militants over the weekend in an ongoing military campaign to clear Anbar province of the extremists, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense has announced. “Iraqi security forces belonging to Baghdad Operations Command backed by Anbar command, Shiite militias from the Hashd al-Shaabi and Iraqi aircraft have been able to kill 77 ISIS fighters in areas close to the town of Garma,” the Defense Ministry announced in a statement released Sunday. Baghdad Operations Command has announced victory in at least three areas of Anbar province Friday that were recaptured from ISIS fighters by joint Iraqi forces. “Forces belonging to Baghdad have been able to retake Janabin, Albu Suda and Albu Jenfer north of Garma. These areas were previously under the control of Islamic State gunmen,” said Baghdad Operations spokesman Saad Maan in a Friday statement. According to the Iraqi Defense Ministry statement, US-led coalition airstrikes conducted a numbers of attacks on ISIS positions in various parts of Anbar province, including the largely ISIS-held provincial capital Ramadi. The Anbar towns of Baghdadi and Garma were also the sites of airstrikes. Coalition forces have also stepped up airstrikes in Mosul province and the oil-reach city of Baiji in Salah addin province. Overall, coalition airstrikes Saturday are estimated to have hit 15 sites in Iraq, according to the Sunday statement. It added these strikes killed more than 20 ISIS militants. At least 60 countries around the world have joined the US-led anti-ISIS campaign to drive the extremists out of Iraq and Syria.
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