ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq claimed Wednesday that its forces repelled twin Islamic State (ISIS) offensives on the outskirts of Ramadi, killing 35 militants and destroying several car bombs. “ISIS launched an assault against (an Iraqi army building) with 10 vehicles rigged with explosives in the area of Sarsar, northern Ramadi," said Brig Gen. Ismail Mahlawi, commander of the Anbar operations command. He said the assault was repulsed. Speaking to reporters, Mahlawi explained that Iraqi forces "inflicted fatal damage to the group’s (ISIS) militants." Meanwhile, Captain Shakir Jawdat of the Iraqi Federal Police, announced that "police forces managed to fiercely repulse an offensive by ISIS militants in the area of Hussaibiyah, killing 35 militants." Iraqi troops retook Ramadi from ISIS in late December, but since then have been held down by militants in Hussaibiyah and other districts. Days after the Iraqi army declared Ramadi free of ISIS control, US Army Captain Chance McCrew told reporters in Baghdad there were still several hundred militants inside the city in the direction of Fallujah. Earlier this week Ibrahim Fahdawi, head of the Khalidiya district security committee, told Rudaw that with help from US Special Forces Iraqi troops had surrounded ISIS militants in the area of Hussaibiyah.
