Suicide attacks in Iraq’s Anbar kill 41 from security forces

Three Islamic State suicide bombers targeted a police base in Iraq’s western Anbar province with explosives-laden Humvees on Monday, killing at least 41 police and Shiite militiamen, officials said.

The attack on a police station in the Tharthar area north of the IS-held provincial capital, Ramadi, caused a large secondary explosion in an ammunition depot, the officials said. Another 63 security forces members were wounded in the attack. Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.

The attack resembled the massive, coordinated assault launched on Ramadi last month that allowed IS militants to capture the city, marking their biggest gain since a US-led coalition began launching <g data-gr-id="32">airstrikes</g> against the extremist group last August. In that assault, the IS group also used Humvees looted from Iraqi security forces. The loss of Ramadi prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to order Shiite militiamen into the vast Sunni province, which was an insurgent hotbed during the eight-year US military presence.

The Shiite militiamen have played a key role in pushing the Sunni IS group back elsewhere in Iraq, but have also been accused by rights groups of carrying out revenge attacks against Sunni citizens, charges denied by militia commanders. The IS group and other Sunni extremists view Shiites as apostates deserving of death.

Meanwhile, The United Nations mission to Iraq said today that more than 1,031 people were killed and another 1,648 were wounded in violence across the country last month. The UN figures showed that 665 civilians and 366 members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in May. Baghdad was the worst affected province with 343 killed and 701 wounded.

But, the UNAMI statement excluded deaths from ongoing fighting in Anbar, due to problems in verifying the “status of those killed.” The figures also leave out insurgent deaths.

In announcing the latest casualty figures, the UN said that military action alone is not enough to 

defeat the IS group and called for a power-sharing among Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian groups.