Two senior Iraqi commanders have been killed and 10 others injured in a suicide car bomb attack north of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, where fierce fighting with theĀ Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group is continuing, sources have told Al Jazeera.
Brigadier Abderahman Muqtada Abu al-Ris, deputy Anbar Commander andĀ Brigadier Safin Abdelmajid, commander of the 10th division, were killed in the attack on Thursday,Ā along with three others.Ā Brigadier General Yahya Rasool toldĀ state TV that the military had intercepted an explosives-laden vehicle that hit the forces, ābut the resulting explosion led to [their] martyrdomā.
Separately, three people were killed in a suicide car bomb targeting a police checkpoint in the town of Bajwa, 15km northwest of Kirkuk. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either of the assaults
The military and police, backed by Shia militias, Sunni tribal fighters and US-led coalition air strikes, are fighting to retake the city, 100km west of Baghdad, from the ISIL group.Ā But progress has been slow and both sides have been suffering heavy casualties in the fight for Anbar.