Iraq Says Defeats ISIS Infiltration Near Ramadi, Several Dead

Members of the Iraqi forces patrol a road on Feb. 12, 2016, after security forces retook the eastern outskirts of Ramadi city from ISIS. (Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)
Members of the Iraqi forces patrol a road on Feb. 12, 2016, after security forces retook the eastern outskirts of Ramadi city from ISIS. (Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)
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Iraq Says Defeats ISIS Infiltration Near Ramadi, Several Dead

Members of the Iraqi forces patrol a road on Feb. 12, 2016, after security forces retook the eastern outskirts of Ramadi city from ISIS. (Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)
Members of the Iraqi forces patrol a road on Feb. 12, 2016, after security forces retook the eastern outskirts of Ramadi city from ISIS. (Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)

ISIS militants seized areas around Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Wednesday in an apparent attempt at a diversion from offensives on the terrorist group’s last Iraqi footholds but were swiftly defeated, security sources said.

The infiltrators briefly occupied three areas near the city, which is the capital of Anbar province, long a bastion of insurgency, the sources said.

But after several hours of heavy fighting in which militants used suicide car bombs, mortars and machine guns, all three areas were retaken.

"The security forces and the tribes retook control of the Al-Tash, Majr and Kilometre Seven districts," provincial police chief Major General Hadi Razij Kassar told reporters.

"All the ISIS members were killed," he added.

The operation was likely to have been an attempt to divert the security forces from an offensive they launched last week against the terrorist organization’s last two footholds in Iraq, one of them a series of towns further up the Euphrates Valley from Ramadi.

A general who asked not to be identified told AFP government forces had killed 20 militants.

A military source in Ramadi hospital said two security personnel were killed and 18 civilians wounded.

But Reuters said that according to a preliminary toll from security sources, at least 7 soldiers were dead and 16 wounded.

"A curfew has been imposed on the city of Ramadi and its surroundings to prevent any security breaches," the general said.

Troops and paramilitaries retook full control of Ramadi from ISIS in February 2016 but are still battling to clear the militants from elsewhere in Anbar province.

Last week saw the launch of twin offensives against the terrorist group in the Euphrates Valley near the Syrian border and around the northern town of Hawija.



US Targets Houthis with Fresh Sanctions Action

Houthi members ride a pick-up truck while on patrol amid tensions with Israel, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 July 2025. (EPA)
Houthi members ride a pick-up truck while on patrol amid tensions with Israel, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 July 2025. (EPA)
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US Targets Houthis with Fresh Sanctions Action

Houthi members ride a pick-up truck while on patrol amid tensions with Israel, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 July 2025. (EPA)
Houthi members ride a pick-up truck while on patrol amid tensions with Israel, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 July 2025. (EPA)

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on what it said was a Houthi-linked petroleum smuggling and sanctions evasion network across Yemen and the United Arab Emirates in fresh action targeting the Iran-backed militant group.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said the two individuals and five entities sanctioned on Tuesday were among the most significant importers of petroleum products and money launderers that benefit the Houthis.

"The Houthis collaborate with opportunistic businessmen to reap enormous profits from the importation of petroleum products and to enable the group’s access to the international financial system," said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender.

"These networks of shady businesses underpin the Houthis’ terrorist machine, and Treasury will use all tools at its disposal to disrupt these schemes."

Among those targeted on Tuesday was Muhammad Al-Sunaydar, who the Treasury said manages a network of petroleum companies between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates and was one of the most prominent petroleum importers in Yemen.

Three companies in his network were also designated, with the Treasury saying they coordinated the delivery of approximately $12 million dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum products with a US-designated company to the Houthis.

Since Israel's war in Gaza against the Palestinian group Hamas began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

In January, Trump re-designated the Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization, aiming to impose harsher economic penalties in response to its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and against US warships defending the critical maritime area.

In May, the United States announced a surprise deal with the Houthis where it agreed to stop a bombing campaign against them in return for an end to shipping attacks, though the Houthis said the deal did not include sparing Israel.

The Israeli military attacked Houthi targets in Yemen's Hodeidah port on Monday in its latest assault on the militants, who have been striking ships bound for Israel and launching missiles against it.