Iraq: Iraq troops and allied tribesmen killed 57 islamist militants in Anbar province
Iraqi troops and allied tribesmen killed 57 Islamist militants in Anbar province on Monday, the Defence Ministry said, in advance of a possible assault on the Sunni rebel-held city of Falluja.
There was no independent verification of the toll among the militants, said to be members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a jihadi group also fighting in Syria.
ISIL militants and other Sunni groups angered by the Shi’ite-led government overran Falluja and parts of the nearby city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar on January 1.