Iraq Ramadi battle
Iraqi security forces stand with an Islamist State flag which they pulled down at the University of Anbar, in Anbar province Reuters

Iraqi officials have told the Associated Press that two generals in the country's army have been killed in a blast when Islamic State suicide bombers blew themselves up west of Baghdad.

Gunmen in a car equipped with a bomb attacked the officers in the city of Ramadi. Iraqi army soldiers opened fire on the vehicle as it advanced toward army forces, but the bomb exploded, killing the generals.

The assistant commander of the Anbar Operations Maj. Gen. Abdul-Rahman Abu and Brigadier General Abdul Majid are reportedly the two officers killed in the blast. One was the senior Iraqi deputy commander of Anbar operations and the other a division commander in the army.

The terrorist group was also active across the border in Syria on 27 August where its fighters seized five villages that were held by anti-Assad rebel fighters in northern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the territorial gains by IS. Turkey and the US have plans to start a new front line against the group in the region

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters on 24 August that the two Nato allies would soon launch "comprehensive" air operations to flush IS fighters from the border region.

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