by Servet Günerigök
ANKARA
The Iraqi army, backed by Kurdish peshmerga and Shiite militias, has killed at least 20 Islamic State militants in eastern Iraq, according to an Iraqi official.
Jamil al-Shamari, the security director of Diyala province, said three vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns were also destroyed on Thursday.
In a separate clash in Fallujah's Naima district, six IS fighters were killed in fighting with the army.
Iraqi commander Qazim Dabbous claimed a total of 171 militants were killed and 80 wounded in U.S. air strikes near the Haditha dam in Anbar province over the previous four days.
Meanwhile, two separate bomb attacks killed six people and injured 20 in Baghdad. No group has claimed responsibility.
Iraq has been gripped by violence since Islamic State militants seized western and northern areas of the country in June.
An estimated 1.2 million Iraqis have been forced from their homes by the fighting.
www.aa.com.tr/en
