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IS attack on Iraq police trainees kills 12

Two of the bombers detonated vehicle bombs at the western gate of Camp Speicher, a former U.S. base outside the city of Tikrit.

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Three others exploded themselves after entering the section of the base where Iraqi police are being trained, police and military sources in the Salahuddin operations command said.

The group has since released a flurry of statements that either claim responsibility for attacks or show scenes of daily life attempting to convey that Islamic State’s “caliphate” is still strong.

Also on Sunday, the militant group attacked the Spiker army base near Tikrit and positions of the Iraqi forces in Barawna sub-district in Haditha.

Iraqi forces last month retook the center of the city, which is the capital of Anbar province, more than seven months after it was overrun by ISIS.

Ramadi recapture will give a fillip to Sunni reconciliation measures initiated by Haider Al Abadi, the Iraqi Prime Minister heading Shiadominated government.

Two suicide attacks blamed on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have killed dozens of government troops in Iraq. Head of the Anbar province local council, Sabah Karhut, said that the jihadists were holding the families in the eastern part of Ramadi to stop US-led coalition warplanes and Iraqi ground forces from hunting Islamic State remnants in the city.

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“We don’t think the enemy has enough combat power in downtown Ramadi to be able to recapture the city”. The military’s success in ousting ISIS from Ramadi marks a milestone for Iraqi forces, who suffered a humiliating setback when the Sunni militants seized the city in May. “We haven’t seen anything more than small teams of ISIL fighters [four to eight individuals] trying to conduct harassing attacks”. The military responded by killing at least 42 militants including the bombers, the ministry said.

Iraqi security forces vehicles are seen in the city of Ramadi