The Islamic State group launched attacks on Iraqi bases in two western towns that left at least 17 members of the security forces and 40 jihadists dead, security and medical sources said Thursday.
Seven policemen and four soldiers were killed when IS fighters attacked the police headquarters in the town of Heet, while at least six federal forces were killed in an assault on a major army base in Ramadi.
Twenty IS attackers were killed in each attack, senior officers said, adding that five jihadists were still holed up in a building in Heet while the Ramadi attack had been successfully repulsed.