IS Suicide Bombers Use Sandstorm To Kill Troops

Suicide bombers from Islamic State used a sandstorm in Iraq to launch an assault on government troops in the western province of Anbar.

An Iraqi military spokesman said the killings were a major blow to efforts to dislodge the Islamist fighters from the Sunni heartland.

The attacks took place outside the IS-held city of Fallujah on Tuesday night and came hours after Iraq announced the start of a major operation to recapture areas in Anbar under the control of IS.

The fighters struck near a water control station and a lock system on a canal between Lake Tharthar and the Euphrates River where army forces have been deployed for the Anbar offensive, said military spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan Ibrahim.

The general said the sandstorm engulfed most of Iraq on Tuesday night and it was not clear how many suicide fighters were involved, but the attack had come from multiple directions.

The strategic water station last month fell into the hands of IS militants after a number of suicide bombings, one of which killed a leading general as well as several other officers and soldiers.

Iraqi government forces recaptured it a few days later.

The Iraqi operation to retake Anbar, said to be backed by Shia and Sunni pro-government fighters, is considered to be critical if the government is to regain ground from IS.