Three soldiers killed and one wounded in attack in western Iraq

Three soldiers were killed and one was wounded in an attack on a military post in western Iraq on Sunday evening, the government said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack in the town of Haditha, but the Iraqi government claimed ISIS extremists were to blame. The attackers, armed with sniper rifles and semi-automatic weapons, arrived in two vehicles, a military official told The National. They fled the area after the attack, he said.

Haditha is about 190km west of Baghdad.

The attack comes amid the Iraqi government’s attempts to bring to an end the presence of the US-led international coalition, which was formed to fight ISIS. It says Iraqi security forces are capable of dealing with the militants.

The request followed an escalation in clashes between the US military and Iran-backed Shiite militias since the start of the Israel-Gaza war.

The US military has retaliated with air strikes that have so far killed 17 militants, including a senior leader.

“We are in the process of reorganising this relationship,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said..

“With the presence of capable Iraqi forces, the Iraqi government is heading towards ending the presence of the international coalition forces,” Mr Al Sudani said.

Iraq declared victory over ISIS in December 2017, but the group still operates in isolated pockets of the north and west of the country, carrying out ambushes, assassinations and bombings.

The CIA estimated that ISIS had between 20,000 and 30,000 fighters at its peak in 2014, while Russia estimated a total force of more than 70,000. Iraqi officials believe the group’s members are in the hundreds.

American troops make up the largest contingent of foreign forces based in Iraq.