BAGHDAD — Islamic State militants launched a devastating assault on Iraqi government forces in the capital of Anbar province Friday, wounding two senior security officers, battling troops in the city center and executing more than a dozen civilians for ties to the government.
Islamic State fighters battled Iraqi troops in new areas of the provincial capital Ramadi, 75 miles west of Baghdad, in an offensive that brought urgency to the government’s plans to take on the militants in their stronghold in western Iraq.
In a visit to Habbaniyah air base in Anbar on Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had vowed to defeat Islamic State militants in the province. Pro-government forces claimed victory over the jihadists in the northern city of Tikrit last month. It marked a serious blow to the group, which seeks to capture and hold territory to build its version of an Islamic caliphate.
In Ramadi, the battle raged on at least two fronts Friday, and the government was losing ground, officials said. The militants already control most of the province.
Jihadist sleeper cells in the Albu Faraj district north of the city attacked Iraqi police and army units Thursday night, the officials said. Then, on Friday, a suicide bomber ambushed a convoy of reinforcements that included the Anbar police chief and the head of the military’s provincial operations command. Both officials were wounded and more than 10 security personnel were killed in the attack.
