The clashes took place in Jurf al-Sakhr, a small Euphrates River town on a road linking Sunni insurgents strongholds in the west to Shiite holy cities south of Baghdad.
‘Seventeen soldiers were killed and three wounded during clashes with insurgents in Jurf al-Sakhr that lasted two hours this morning,’ an army lieutenant told AFP.
An army medic confirmed the death toll, with both sources saying 23 jihadists from the Islamic State were also killed.
The mainly Sunni town, which lies in the north of Babil province, is the scene of almost daily fighting between pro-government forces and Sunni militants.
IS launched a sweeping offensive in northern Iraq on June 9, conquering the second city Mosul and large parts of the country’s Sunni heartland.
Jurf al-Sakhr lies on the edge of what became known during a previous wave of sectarian bloodshed eight years ago as the ‘triangle of death.’
The army and allied Shiite militia, such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, take up positions in the town during the day but often pull back at night, which allows insurgents to plant roadside bombs.
The loss of Jurf al-Sakhr would threaten government control over one of only two main roads linking Baghdad to the southern Shiite heartland, including the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.
‘Seventeen soldiers were killed and three wounded during clashes with insurgents in Jurf al-Sakhr that lasted two hours this morning,’ an army lieutenant told AFP.
An army medic confirmed the death toll, with both sources saying 23 jihadists from the Islamic State were also killed.
The mainly Sunni town, which lies in the north of Babil province, is the scene of almost daily fighting between pro-government forces and Sunni militants.
IS launched a sweeping offensive in northern Iraq on June 9, conquering the second city Mosul and large parts of the country’s Sunni heartland.
Jurf al-Sakhr lies on the edge of what became known during a previous wave of sectarian bloodshed eight years ago as the ‘triangle of death.’
The army and allied Shiite militia, such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, take up positions in the town during the day but often pull back at night, which allows insurgents to plant roadside bombs.
The loss of Jurf al-Sakhr would threaten government control over one of only two main roads linking Baghdad to the southern Shiite heartland, including the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.